Family Reunions [Elisabeta]

[archenstone]

Asharra leaned back against the table with a warm cup of Klah in her hand. Her morning dinner of meat rolls and fresh fruit lay with in arms reach half eaten. Ever since the evil salamandyrs attacked her and ravaged her skirts she began wearing pants. She wasn't happy with the change but feared a repeat of that one horrifying morning. Even now she preferred to lean with her back against the table so she could see most of the exits.....just in case. Such vermin where the only reason necessary to prove why she disliked the creatures so much.

She sighed, stretching her arms out to loosen weary muscles. Her night had been easy on her so her cane had remained blessedly absent. Sounds of people and dragons starting their early mornings slowly took over the quiet stillness that had been the dining hall. Now people scooted in next to each other good naturedly while eating their respective breakfasts. Mindfull of the crowding room, Asharra took hold of her plate and started nibbling of fruit.

[Ruby]

Elisabeta absolutely loathed common dining rooms when they were crowded, but Alpha Wing members were expected to be at Drills at a certain time. Unless the Greenrider wanted to eat at about 4 in the morning, she had to suck it up and deal with it, assuming she wanted a hot breakfast. Today she did - she had a bowl of hot porridge in her hands, plain. Taking it back to her weyr would mean it would get cold, and that was simply not acceptable. Elisabeta prefered her porridge steaming hot.

Coming out of the kitchens, the Greenrider scanned the tables, looking for an empty (or at least empty-ish) one. Wearing a dangerous scowl, she stalked towards a corner, still scanning for a clear place. Suddenly, though, her eyes hitched on a familiar figure.

The Greenrider couldn't help but freeze. Asharra, no doubt about it. The last time she had seen her sister was thirty turns ago, but she would recognize her family anywhere. The same eyes, the same nose; a little more flesh on the older sister than the younger one, perhaps, but the resemblance was still clear. Elisabeta, transfixed, couldn't find it in her to move. Instead, she simply radiated years of anger in Asharra's direction, waiting for her sister to notice her. This confrontation was up to her.

[archenstone]

Perhaps people can simply tell when blood comes near....or perhaps it was the intense anger being directed solely at her back....something made Asharra turn around. Her eyes scanned the the crowds, wondering why she felt nervous. Her answer came to her in the presence of a whip thin woman with angular features. She saw the woman's grey eyes bore into her as she assess the aged rider before her. A flutter hit her stomach and she set the food down on the table. "Elisabeta." The word was a statement, for there was no question of who is was. "You must be a miracle. Not many riders live to be......experienced." Ouch, Asharra inwardly groaned. That came out a bit harsher than it was meant. Didn't matter though, truth was truth.
Asharra stood up, even so her younger sister was taller. It made no difference to Asharra as she walked closer to her estranged sister. She stopped enough feet away that she could duck behind another if the rider lunged for her. "So, still stealing young children Elisabeta?"

[Ruby]

"Asharra," Elisabeta confirmed, her voice tight. All of a sudden, Rakmaninoth was in her head, filling up the empty spaces with her presence. Elisabeta had always thought of her dragon as warm, and her presence was comforting, even if the Green seemed to be about ten times more furious than necessary. "I'm talented, not a miracle," she snapped, irritated. What did her soft, land-bound sister know of Dragonriding? Nothing, that was what. Clearly.

When the Healer got up, Elisabeta eyed her seat; already the porridge was cooling. There were other empty benches at the table - Asharra seemed to have been sitting alone - but Elisabeta had already decided what chair she wanted. "It's called Search, and we don't steal, we take what we need," she corrected, suddenly starting towards her sibling - only to sweep by, pulling out the chair so recently vacated by Asharra. Hers now, thank you very much. Asharra could sit on the bench next to her if she wished to continue the conversation.

Well, in theory. In actuality, Elisabeta couldn't resist having the last word (ever), so she took a bite of porridge, made a face at the quality, then shot over her shoulder, "Is your kind still killing babies?" Unfair, perhaps, but as it was a story Asharra wouldn't know in full, Elisabeta knew she could get away with some embellishment.

[archenstone]

Asharra eyed her sister as the woman swept by and sat in the seat she momentarily stood up from. The maneuver almost seemed childish. Asharra didn't allow herself to become irritated which, she guessed, would be her sister's intent. "Talented? I'm not surprised. All our sisters where talented....the ones I've had a chance to know anyways." She had fond memories of her childhood. Did Elisabeta remember anything good from their little home she wondered.

"Your kind do search what you need, but sometimes I wonder if your kind also takes whats unnecessary as well. The children who stand forever with out their dragon are left to disappointment while their companions move up in the world." She said while Elisabeta took a moment to eat. Deciding that she didn't want to stand over Elisabeta like a lecturing old sister, Asharra choose to sit on the bench next to her.

your kind still killing babies?"

Asharra raised an eyebrow. Did she eat just to think of a retort? Even so, it was an odd accusation to make to a healer. "I'm curious as to why you'd say that Elisabeta."

[Ruby]

"Mmm," was Elisabeta's enlightened response, as she had another bite of breakfast. Once she'd been searched, she had lost touch with her family, although they did seem to be a fairly good bunch. She and Asharra, at least, had excelled on their paths (as much as she despised Healers, you couldn't scoff at Mastery). The rest... farmers or wives, if she had her guess, maybe one became a builder of some sort. It had been far too long, she realized - over four decades since she had seen or contacted her family. They had stopped being a part of her life so long ago. Even J'reth was long dead, now.

Elisabeta was perfectly happy to let that subject drop - she always seemed to be frowning, but now her expression was more intense, brooding. As such, her tone came out even harsher than usual as she said, "You know very well that we have no way to tell who will impress and who will not, Asharra. We take the ones with potential, that is all. Would that we could tell, we'd have far fewer unnecessary mouths to feed. Rakmaninoth's record is quite good, but no Searchrider is perfect." She remembered the girl Asharra was subtly asking about, but not whether or not she'd ever impressed. Elisabeta doubted it, the girl was about as empathic as a spoon.

Why, after all, had Elisabeta brought up her son? Because, after all these years, she still felt the pain and emptiness of losing him. Sometimes, it seemed like the only thing she felt. Elret, who had never even taken his first breath. Finally she could make someone pay, someone that mattered. "Why? Because they killed my baby, Asharra. Or didn't you know?"

[archenstone]

Asharra listened to her sister go on about searching and the rider's needs. Did she detect a hint of emotion? Elisabeta's expression only intensified as Asharra listened to her. She seemed very proud of her dragon's track record. Very well, let by gone be by gone. She pondered the accusation Elisabeta made. It was quite serious, and beneath the words was a very strong emotion.

She glanced at Elisabeta when she said the baby had been killed. Asharra was aware of what happened. The midwives discussed cases from time to time, to learn from experiences and try to improve. She sat back against the table, thinking about that time in both their lives. Asharra had loathed dragon riders....was unhappy with Elisabeta....but even so when when she a heard, she had wanted to send her estranged sister something. Such an odd thing for her.

She had made a baby blanket. Of course she hadn't known if it would be a boy or girl...or if it would even survive....for green riders tended to between their unborn babes. Even so she knitted a sky blue blanket with pink, yellow, and dark blue blossoms that where common in fields around their home. She had sent it off; hearing only two months later that the child was still born. She had sent the blanket anonymously, so she had no idea if her sister had known. It was certainly sad, and she knew that her parents would have been distraught had they known.

Her expression softened slightly. Elisabeta could blame healers all she wanted. It would not change the outcome. "I knew," She said simply. She was not going to retort that healers had not been responsible. Such arguments rarely won over grieving mothers. She was rather surprised though. Did Elisabeta really feel so strongly even now? She hadn't heard of Elisabeta after that....so she didn't know if her sister had tried again. "I am sorry for your loss. It is hard to loose a child....and even harder to loose a son you never had the chance to know." She spoke sincerely. "If things had worked out....better....I would have liked to have met my nephew too."

[Ruby]

"You knew?" The Greenrider hissed, her voice rising near an octave at the end. Pale cheeks colored a touch, Elisabeta more visibly distraught than she had been in years. Clearly, this was one wound that was still fresh, as much as she fought to master her emotions, to still appear the stone statue she usually was. Of course Healers gossiped, of course word had spread - it had been a strange situation, after all, the fetus simply without life, not a mark on him. Had she been Between in the last week, two weeks, they had asked? Of course not. Then it was a mystery; inexplicable.

It had been naive of her to believe that it would be her own private embarrassment.

Well, it was over now, long in the past. He would be a man grown by now, with sons of his own perhaps, but instead Elisabeta had no one. Asharra was here, but she hardly knew her sister. Still, the sympathy, unlooked for after so many years, caught Elisabeta off guard. She ducked her head, filling her mouth with porridge. It only took a second, though, to recover her mask, and she glanced up to meet her sister's eyes. Her face was clear once again, no hint of the pain that had been there just a second ago.

"Thank you, it is hard. Harder, I suppose, to lose the ones you do know, so I suppose I should count my blessings." If that phrase had ever been said in a harder tone, bystanders would be shocked. Returning to her breakfast once again, Elisabeta asked, "And you? No husband, no children after all these years?" She topped it off with a tight smile, something that could have been construed as courtesy by someone not related to the Greenrider.