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Post by morgan on Aug 1, 2008 21:04:57 GMT -5
Aniqa climbed down the unfamiliar ladder of the Candidates Barracks, making sure that each foot met a rung before putting her wieght on it. At the bottom, she climbed into one of the little boats available for use and pulled out the paddle. She struggled a little at first, but finally got it going towards the kichens to the northeast, where she and her candidate group was supposed to report to for thier chores.
After landing on the dock, she began going up again, this time through the main room. She supposed she could've gone through the inside of the Barracks, but she'd've had to go through the boys' dorms.
She walked into the Dining hall, wishing that she had been placed in Group 2, so that she could work with the books rather than the food. She wasn't the greatest of cooks, so would invariably end up sweeping grates or bussing tables, but it was probably better that way. She wouldn't end up wiping up vomit.
She turned and walked into the kitchens, where she met the headwoman.
"New candidate, eh?" the Headwoman said speculatively.
"New..." Ani said quietly. "Yes," she agreed. The Headwoman cut to the chase. "Can you cook, girl?" she asked in a kinder tone than Ani was used to. "Can I cook?" she thought of the ruined klah and lumpy porridge. "No," she said finally. The Headwoman sighed. "I guess you will do for bussing then," she said, more to herself then Ani. She handed her a tray and a cloth. "Here. Start by putting the food onto the tables, and then come back."
Ani walked carefully wit the tray loaded with food. She carefully set it on the nearest table, laying it out neatly, and went on like this for a little while, hoping that the other candidates would join her soon.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Aug 3, 2008 12:13:24 GMT -5
Even the best Riders had to eat sometime, and T’rid was no exception. The Bronzerider had dallied for as long as he could, not wanting to meet the head-on rush, but when he’d checked the candlemarks, it became apparent that he was early, not late. And if he waited much longer, he might as well have just starved, for the pain in his stomach was becoming near unbearable. Shall I catch you a herdbeast? Corinth queried in great amusement. No. Thank you, T’rid replied, gritting his teeth and shaking his head with a sigh. It was no good. He was going to eat. Come on, move your bronze butt and take me down to the dining hall. Corinth gave a wistful rumble, but obeyed.
Upon setting his Rider down, the bronze took to a particularly warm place on the ground where he began to sun himself, stretching first one wing and then the other. T’rid watched Corinth for a while, but soon he took himself and his growling stomach inside. Thank Faranth that nobody’d the brains to come here early, or he’d be swamped. T’rid grinned, suddenly delighted at his cleverness, and found his seat, claiming it. Pity the table was empty, but that could be easily fixed.
T’rid turned his gaze around the room carefully, scanning the place, and his eyes landed on a girl. A Candidate on chore duty, no doubt, even if she did look a badly grown thirteen Turns or so to T’rid. “Hey, you,” he called peremptorily, waving at her. “C’mere, I’ve a request for the cooks in there.” By now, a few people had trickled in, but T’rid didn’t look at them. Shards to them. You’d make a fair few friends more if you were nicer, Ridermine, Corinth said reprovingly. Yes, and you’d make a fair few more lady friends if you were more flirty, Cor. But you’re not, are you? He added to the girl, frowning, “Are you new? I’ve never seen you before.” Not that it really mattered…
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Post by morgan on Aug 3, 2008 12:32:27 GMT -5
"Hey you."
Ani looked up to see a man waving her over. It was a rider, standing up near the enterance. Ani walked over to him, still carrying the tray, now empty. “C’mere, I’ve a request for the cooks in there.” Ani stood there, waiting for his orders.
But instead of food, he frowned and asked, “Are you new? I’ve never seen you before.”
"...new?" Ani said, in her usual slow way of answering questions. "Yes, I am new here. I am a Candidate."
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Aug 3, 2008 12:40:03 GMT -5
“Mm.” T’rid considered her briefly. As he’d already noticed, she looked like she was only twelve, thirteen Turns of age. And…the way she spoke, made her seem kind of vague, thoughtful, in a childish way…or was that just her physical appearance reflecting on her? “Well, sure. Good luck, then. Fetch some klah and a few meatrolls from the kitchen, can’t you?” He paused, and then added, the pause for dramatic effect even if his voice was still dry-humored and drawling, “And if you’re stopped for questioning, tell them that the food’s for Bronzerider T’rid of Corinth, hmm? Or can you read knots?”
Although, before, he’d automatically assumed people could read knots, he’d been startled and appalled when people had to ask him what his rank was. Couldn’t they just read his knots? Honestly. The mere thought made T’rid want to roll his eyes. He resisted for the girl’s sake. No need to make her nervous, as most people were (and should be!) around Bronzeriders. “And if they don’t believe you, tell them to go stick their heads out the window. Corinth’s out there,” he explained, settling into his chair and swinging it around to straddle it.
I am not a matter to be gawked at, Corinth said in a dignified voice. And if anyone does so, I might…accidentally swallow some firestone and accidentally burn their heads off. …Aren’t dragons supposed to not harm people? T’rid grinned at the thought of a Drudge blinking at a dragon, only to get his or her head charred to a crisp like so much Thread. Sometimes, though, he thought Thread was more intelligent than Drudges were…
“And unless you actually enjoy running back and forth like a tame runner,” he added, “Get some food for yourself and sit down for a bit. No need for you to be trotting up and down when no one’s here yet.”
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Post by morgan on Aug 3, 2008 18:15:59 GMT -5
“Meatrolls and klah for… Bronzerider T’rid, and food for myself. Got it,” Ani repeated, getting it straight. She was unabashed at the way he asked whether she realized that his knot told all that could see that he was a Bronzerider. She turned and entered the kitchen.
When the Headwoman opened her mouth, she hurriedly said, “This food is for Bronzerider T’rid of Corinth. I’m to fetch his food for him.” She also took this opportunity to add a few spoons of sweetner into a bowl of hot meal.
She balanced the meatrolls, klah, and meal on the tray and set it down on the table in front of the Dragonrider. “So, this Corinth,” she said conversationally, “he doesn’t happen to like to have his eyeridges scratched, does he?”
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Aug 3, 2008 18:36:36 GMT -5
T’rid couldn’t help but grin at her recitation of his demand. Well, at least she knew she’d it right. He nodded and watched her go off. She’s more clever than vague, Corinth told him, sounding slightly surprised. From the impression you gave me, she’d not had her wits about her. But…well…! Think she’ll Impress? Wher or dragon? T’rid retorted playfully, glancing around as he awaited the Candidate’s return. Corinth gave a mental huff. As if whers could even compare with dragons! Dragon, of course. No one in their right mind would rather Bond to a stunted little wher than Impress a dragon.
The Bronzerider took a minute to think. Well, maybe. Impress a queen? Unlikely. But a green, I think she’d Impress. Why do you ask? he added. Just thinking... mumbled Corinth, and then the girl was back with the meal. Apparently nobody had stopped her, or actually looked out of the window, because if they had, Corinth would have let T’rid know. Plus, there’d be a lot more squeals from the kitchen than was normal (as if they were lacking in squeals anyway, as oil sizzled and popped onto exposed skin; brooms whacked people; etc.).
Helping himself to a cup of klah, T’rid sipped judicially and decided it good. The heat of it woke him up far more efficiently than anything else, and he took a minute before replying to Aniqa. “Eh? Corinth? Oh, yes, he does.” He paused, glancing out of the window, where one of the bronze’s wings was visible where he stretched it to catch the sunlight. “I can’t say anyone but me’s ever scratched it, though,” he added thoughtfully. “Where’re you from? The North?” A certain amount of dislike lay in the North for T’rid—he personally had nothing against Benden Weyr, per se, but what they had done to Selenitas as a whole was unforgivable. She can’t help where she’s from, protested Corinth naïvely. You might as her what her name is? Ah, yes. T’rid paused, blinked, and then addressed the girl again. “Your name?” he added. “I’d ask for your rank, too, but seeing as you’ve already told me…”
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Post by morgan on Aug 3, 2008 19:37:05 GMT -5
“The North?” Ani almost snorted into her klah. “ I was born here, in the Weyr, and tehn raised in Selenitas Hold until I was apprenticed to the Healer Hall. My parents were Aniya and Q’mal. You might have known them…? Anyways… my name? It’s Aniqa.”
She looked down at her now empty bowl of meal, surprised at how much she ate. She supposed she never realized how much she ate before because her portion was always smaller, and the boys were always grabbing the meal before she got a second serving. The bowl had been pretty large though. She looked up at T’rid hopefully.
“There always is a first time to everything, my foster mother said. And there’s not many people here… do you think I could go out and scratch Corinth? Ylonth didn’t mind much…” She was, of course, referring to the blue that had taken her from Healer Hall. “And,” she added, more for Corinth’s benefit than his rider’s, “I’d like to see his whole body. I’m sure he is much more handsome when I can see more than just his wingtip.”
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Aug 4, 2008 15:42:05 GMT -5
“So we have a Northern-born Healer.” T’rid chuckled slightly, his hazel eyes intent on Aniqa. When he heard the words ‘Northern-born Healer’, he automatically thought of a rough Healer who snapped out orders and was generally the type of Healer who poked unnecessarily hard. This girl did not resemble his idea of a Northern-born Healer. “Probably a good thing you were sent to Selenitas,” he commented dryly, “What with all the sexism, rape, murder, torture, beating…” He grinned. “I could go on, but it’d only bore you.”
“Aniya and Q’mal…” The seventeen-Turn young man frowned, intently, trying to recall. “Q’mal…a…” He hesitated. Brownrider Q’mal, Corinth offered helpfully. “A Brownrider, Corinth tells me,” T’rid offered, quirking his eyebrow in question. If Corinth had remembered, he was bound to have known. How did you know, Cor? I don’t know, Corinth replied, puzzled. A rumor…a brown…chasing…? The bronze trailed off, and T’rid could feel him puzzling it over. Never mind, he said hastily. It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t it? Corinth shot back, but settled back, folding his wing delicately again.
Noticing for the first time the hopeful look he was getting from Aniqa, T’rid grinned and gestured at the food still laid out. “Go on,” he said invitingly. “I won’t be able to eat it all, and I doubt you’d be able to either. If I want more,” he went on, smirking slightly, “I can always get some from the kitchens.”
At her suggestion of ‘scratching Corinth,’ T’rid, who had been tipping his chair back on two legs, nearly fell out of it. Catching himself by grabbing the edge of the table, the Bronzerider considered. “Ylonth?” Blue Ylonth of R’fuin, reported Corinth neatly. “Oh, Searchrider,” T’rid said, comprehension dawning. “Well, sure, I guess this’d be your first time up close to a bronze dragon?” he added inquiringly. “Finish up and we can go see him.” What if I don’t want to be scratched? Corinth asked. You know you do. You always do. T’rid finished his roll, drained the last of his klah which was cooling anyway, and then raised his eyebrows, waiting for Aniqa to finish.
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Post by morgan on Aug 4, 2008 17:27:54 GMT -5
Ani looked at him curiously. You don’t need to tell me about it,” she said bluntly. “I was there. And my father was the Selenitas Brownrider Q’mal, yes. How would Corinth know that? You don’t look like you are older than twenty.”
She looked at his uneaten meatrolls speculatively. “Maybe one or too…” And she grabbed three, but ate them slowly. “Thank you,” she said in between rolls, remembering his rank.
“My first time up close to a bronze dragon? Yes, it is.” She quickly swallowed the remnants of the roll and looked up eagerly. “I’m done.”
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Aug 5, 2008 15:01:29 GMT -5
At Aniqa’s query, T’rid gave a heartfelt sigh. “I’m not that old yet, thank Faranth.” He pointed a meatroll at her. “Well, I was looking through the old wing drills in the Archives,” he explained, “just the other day.” T’rid made a rueful face, shaking his head. “Our Wingleader’s organized all the blues on one side of the wing and all the greens on the other—I don’t know how well that’ll work out. Anyway, I must’ve passed your birthfather’s name and registered it unconsciously. Dragons remember what they want to.”
He watched in slight amusement as she ate three of the meatrolls. Most girls didn’t show their appetites—if, he amended, they even had one. Silly girls, T’rid thought absently, always pecking at their food as if afraid someone would point and laugh if they bolted it down, and say, ‘Glutton.’ As if—who would say that, after watching a dragon eat?
T’rid stirred at both Aniqa’s acknowledgement and Corinth’s boasting tones in his mind. I am a good impression, the bronze purred in delight. I am the perfect bronze…handsome and agile and wonderful. Ah-hum, of course, T’rid replied in teasingly sarcastic tones, knowing it would deflate the bronze’s ego a bit. Corinth huffed at him. She’s done, bring her out, he demanded importantly. Shaking away the glazed look speaking to Corinth always gave him, T’rid grinned. “Corinth wants me to bring you out. Come on, then, don’t just sit there, girl.” He jumped to his feet and trotted out of the Hall, snatching up another meatroll to bring with him.
If Aniqa hadn’t followed him, T’rid would have been very surprised, but in his arrogance, he automatically assumed that she had, and as they—he?—neared Corinth, he brandished the meatroll with one bite from it at Corinth, who had sprawled in the sun, preening. “That’s Corinth,” he said affectionately. “Hoping you’ll Impress a queen? Although more girls are Impressing greens,” he added thoughtfully. But only the best Impress bronzes, Corinth added happily to T’rid, who flicked a grin at the bronze.
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Post by morgan on Aug 5, 2008 17:41:48 GMT -5
Ani listened politely to him talk about the wing formations, storing the information about it away for later use. Greens were the smallest and most agile, and blues were their larger male counterpart, and she could see where the side-by-side formation would be useful, but could also see the flaws. Greens tired easily, and would end up switching more often. The blues should be there to catch the thread that was missed during such transitions. Of course, there was always the Queen’s wing, but they all couldn’t be in the same place at the same time.
She didn’t know much about her father, but he must have been an interesting man. Or at least, his dragon must have been quite a character for, according to her foster-mother, he had some odd Flight habits. She hadn’t known what that meant at the time, but at the Healer Hall, she had learned a thing or two. She now supposed that the brown didn’t Chase only greens.
She hopped out of her chair as he bid her to follow.
“A queen?” she said in her usually airy way. “I’d like that, defiantly, if a queen will have me. Although I can see why more girls Impress greens. There are more of them.”
She stretched out a hand to Corinth’s head. “You don’t mind, do you Corinth?” she asked the bronze. He was full grown, she saw, judging by the age of his rider, and he was easily larger than a lot of dragons she’d seen, and very pretty in his own shiny way.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Aug 6, 2008 15:02:34 GMT -5
((Corinth IS full-grown, just to let you know…x3 He’s four Turns—he’s just small for a bronze. T’rid Impressed when he was fourteen.))
“Well, what I meant was that—well, usually boys Impress greens.” T’rid gave a negligent shrug. “Or used to, anyway. Girls rarely Impressed except for queens. Now, girls are Impressing left and right.” But, Corinth observed, Not bronzes. We bronzes are the only colors that have yet to be Impressed by a female. He spoke proudly. Oh, so what are queen dragons? teased T’rid in response, moving towards the bronze and rubbing at his neck affectionately. Female humans, Corinth sniffed haughtily, pretending disregard for his Rider.
As the girl spoke, his head came around and he studied her with a blue-and-green glowing eye for a moment. He gave a rumble of assent. Tell her she may, Corinth reported to T’rid. While he wasn’t willing to pass up a scratching, neither was he going to speak directly to a Candidate. As of yet, they had basically as little rank as a Drudge—and besides, he hadn’t spoken to Liassa, Greenweyrling of Tiaeth, when T’rid had been with her for a while. He was hardly going to make an exception to his streak of directly speaking to no human but his Rider. “Corinth says you may,” T’rid reported to Aniqa.
You are oddly polite to her, Corinth commented as he lowered his head to make it easier on Aniqa. You’ve not yet pulled rank on her…which is a first. She fed me, though, observed T’rid, turning to lean against Corinth’s bronze bulk as he finished his meatroll. Corinth squirmed under his weight. What’s up? Don’t just lean. Scratch, the bronze replied insistently. T’rid sighed, turning as he licked the last drops of oil and meat off of his fingers, and rubbed at the soft bronze hide. “So,” he added, turning to Aniqa. “You mean Ylonth—he took you between to Selenitas, didn’t he? What did you think? Of between, I mean.”
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Post by morgan on Aug 7, 2008 9:11:57 GMT -5
((-headpalm- My mistake. I fixed it though))
“Perhaps greens dislike being taken for granted,” Ani said. “I know I didn’t like it. They just make their own decisions is all. After all, I heard that many people are surprised at dragon’s choices.”
She started scratching Corinth’s eye ridges, not surprised that Corinth deigned to not talk to her directly. She suspected that the blue, lower on the social hierarchy, had no problem talking to a soon-to-be lowly Candidate.
“What did I think of between?” she remembered the cold nothingness of between, and finally spoke. “It was cold,” she started. “and dark. But it was so short a time there that I could go there again. It wouldn’t bother me.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Aug 7, 2008 15:22:25 GMT -5
T’rid gazed blankly at Aniqa for a second. Greens dislike being taken for granted? Then he gave a short bark of laughter. “My dear lady, nobody takes greens for granted. Not only are they the backbone of a fighting wing, but if you hadn’t noticed, they make up fifty percent of all the dragons on Pern. Without greens, we’d be living on a rock.” Then his lip curled in a lazy smile. “I know people were surprised by Corinth choosing me,” he pointed out. They were? Corinth asked in surprise. Oh, yes. You’d no idea, T’rid told the bronze with complete honestly. “They thought,” he added out loud for Aniqa’s benefit, “that Corinth was addled in the brain, because I was probably the most immature Bronzeweyrling ever to grace Pern.”
Corinth rumbled, but whether in pleasure at being scratched or in agreement, it was hard to tell. Tell it feels nice, and to go a bit to the right, please, he told his Rider. “Corinth thanks you, for it feels good, and asks you to go a bit to the right.” T’rid raised one brow in amusement. I didn’t say thank you, Corinth said, confused. You meant it, though. Umm. Maybe.
“Cold and dark.” T’rid had to grin at her description. “A Miner who’d never seen the sky could tell you that,” he said in amusement. “‘Between only lasts as long as it takes to cough three times,’” he quoted. “And you’d better be grateful it doesn’t last longer, or we’d be frozen by the time we came back.” He shook his head. “Corinth doesn’t think the cold’s too bad, do you, Corinth?” The bronze dragon eyed his Rider and then rumbled reprovingly. It’s cold for humans, he said, in the same reproving tone.
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Post by morgan on Aug 8, 2008 15:54:34 GMT -5
Ani fixed the location of her rubbing t Corinth’s request. “Well, maybe the greens aren’t taken for granted, but girls aren’t either when they ride a fighting dragon,” Aniqa said in a “let’s-just-drop-it-because-I-am-a-raving-girl-Candidate” tone of voice.
“Well, Corinth seems to believe that he made the right choice, and you seem to have grown out of it. At least, your table manners aren’t as immature as they could be,” she said speculatively.
“Frozen is as frozen does,” she intoned sagely, modifying an oft-heard phrase from her time as a fosterling. “The freezing of between kills Thread before humans, so the span of three coughs is just right for the purpose of Threadfighting. I doubt it wa planned that way, but it turned out well.”
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