A Strain in my Eyes (August Chores, open)

[zoie]

Archive duty. It was a very misleading chore. It sounded like fun, but it wan’t. Really, how fun could copying old records really be? They were old, and usually useless. But that was Nitsa’s chore, and she would have to do it until the hatching. That was not so fun.

First, they had to be deciphered. That alone was a chore, one that people with poorer eyesight could not get through without much suffering. The ink had faded and become almost illegible by the time Nitsa had gotten her hands on it. And they really waited until the last step of fadedness until they required someone to copy it. Yeah, smart.

Then there was the copying itself. Nitsa thought that doing such a thing would be easy, but the scroll had to be looked at one or two hundred times a sentence to make sure nothing was left out. Woe betide she who left out one or two crucial words in a record of farm outputs for what seemed like hundreds of Turns ago. At least, that was what the archive master said.

That was just it, though. The subject matter was just boring, boring boring! She needed some kind of entertainment before she cracked. She shook out the cramps in her hands and cast around for something more fun to do.

[lokath]

"A little dust never hurt anybody," is what the archivist had said as she shepherded L'ka back into the depths of the Records Room. L'ka hadn't been planning to be here, but somehow the old woman had hunted him down and nearly dragged him into the archives. She now deposited him by a stack of papers nearly as tall as he was, with instructions to copy as many of them as he could. L'ka glared at her as she walked away, leaving him alone with only a single glow to light his task. Lith, how in the /world/ am I going to get out of here? I think she will have to come back and get you, L'kaMine. I suggest you remain put. L'ka sighed as he picked up the first paper in the stack, staring at it but not really reading.

A list of tithings from Lighttower? Exactly how ancient was this paper? He flipped through the stack, and decided the archivist was out to get him, as it seemed he had been given the dullest, most worthless papers. A few caught his eye, ancient star-maps of the night skies over Selenitas that were still remarkably accurate, but what use were stars in a Weyr? You never needed to navigate great distances, and if you forgot what day it was, you could just as easily ask someone who knew. At least they were interesting, and L'ka began to copy them slowly and painstakingly, assuring each dot and circle was in the correct spot before moving on to the next.

As he did this, the cloud of dust that had been kicked up by his shuffle through the stack began to settle around L'ka's head. He didn't notice when his nose began to get irritated, so engrossed he was in his task, and only just before the actual event did L'ka realize he was going to sneeze. Without the time to cover his face or even turn his head away from the large stack of papers, the sneeze broke forth violently, followed by a couple of smaller sneezes.

Papers flutterd around L'ka's head, settling to the ground in various places, on different stacks, the ground, and also on various shelves and boxes around the Records Room. One even landed on his new star-chart, smudging the ink. Frustrated that his work had been ruined, L'ka stood up quickly, trying to grab whatever papers were still in the air, before they fell to the ground and became anonymous.

[Tashe]

"But why~!" Whining wasn't a way to get things, but it sure made Nautic feel better. He had graduated! Why did the Emomaster have it in for him! It wasn't fair that he had to do chores now that he was good and done with Candidate Lessons and all of that jazz. He hated doing chores, unless he was scheduled at the Creche, well technically he would be scheduled on General Weyr duty, in which he would then sneak off to the Creche and go through the day like every other day of his life. But Archive duty? Of course he had done this chore many times within his Candidate lifetime, but was Emoyan trying to suck his life spirit out of him? Leave him a dry husk just because he dressed like a girl and complained that his fake boobs were too big to handle? That man really had no sense of humor at all! Such a bore that man was. Stomping down the hall, Nautic did his best to be as loud as he could be. Archive duty! The Emomaster was definitely going to get an angry Salamandyr in his bed sooner or later. The only thing he could hope for in this despicable line up was the possibility of cute members of Candidacy and Weyrlingship awaiting him in the archives.

He had just entered the familiar and dull entrance way, how the Senior Weyrwoman loved this room was totally beyond him, when Nautic was greeted with the sound of a loud set of sneezes. Which by the fluttering of paper he had been able to pick up, had sent old paper into the air. That had to have some force behind it. Wondering into the depths of the shelving units, Nautic poked his head around a particular one to watch the papers fall to the floor while a frustrated looking Weyrling tried to snatch them from the air. It was certainly an amusing sight to behold. "You alright there? Are the papers causing trouble again?" He chuckled slightly.

[ace]

Mina cringed as she looked at the list for the weyrling's chores. Archives again, she thought with a slight feeling of trepidation. She hadn't planned on doing he assigned chores for sometime, but Kunth had convinced her to go. It was hard to argue with your dragon, Mina though with a slight smile. Her green had informed her she might as well go as she sunned herself and was sleeping, that way her Mine wouldn't miss anything exciting. She had also threatened to prance around the weyr exclaiming for all to here one of Mina's deepest secrets. With that, Mina had set off for the dusty Archives room.

As the young weyrling rider walked in, she was greeted by the smell of old scrolls. It wasn't as cold as last time she had been in their, she realized as she settled down into a chair. She was comfortably warm to be quite truthful. The Archivest had recognized her as she entered the Hall, and had handed her the unfinished scrolls she had not completed last time. She ducked her head and sat down to work.

After sometime she glanced up and looked around at the other weyrlings and candidates who were diligently bending over scrolls. "Hello," she whispered to L'ka. "Have you got a handle on your papers," she said with great amusement as she watched him scrambling to pick up the ones that had fallen.

[kat]

If she had to pick a first chore for herself, archive duty would most definitely have been the one she'd have picked. Far more quiet than either general or kitchen duties. Much less chance of having to deal with people she didn't know, or didn't even really want to deal with to begin with. Besides, it was one of the duties her pup could come along and be with her for. The pup wasn't going to be allowed in the kitchens. Of that much she was sure. General duties? Probably she could come for that, too. Still, the pup was really a comfort to have with her.

As she made her way into the Archives, she noted it was rather dusty in there. Not overtly so--the candidates and weyrlings made sure of it. Still, it was dusty and smelled kind of like old scrolls. Well, what did she expect? It was a room full of old scrolls! She had a very steady hand and she would prefer to just copy scrolls, and so that's what she decided she'd be doing when she arrived. However, she hadn't expected quite a few other people to already be there. Nervously she looked about the smaller room. Were they all here for their chores?

"Hi there," she attempted. There were only three other people here. Way better than the potential many. She hoped that they all liked dogs. Otherwise, Roo might have to leave and she'd have to take her back to the barracks. That was unwanted work and she had intended to just do her chores and then go for a walk with the pup.

~~~~~~

Talien had had to get directions to the archives. It wasn't as if he'd ever been there before, after all. He had no clue who picked what chores they did, but he would have preferred something a little less boring. Still, he didn't have a choice. Next month he might have something more interesting to do. Really, general Weyr duties sounded most appealing. At least you go to move around more that way. Still, as he made his way into the archives, he spotted a familiar face. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad, after all?

"Mina, hey!" he called upon entering the room. She had Impressed, and he'd seen it, too. Not that he'd had a chance to properly congratulate her. It was kind of sad, really. Both Mina and Tahlor--not T'lor--had Impressed. He was out a couple of friends in the candidate's barracks. Still, it was what they'd wanted. He was happy for them. "Congrats, you Impressed! I knew you two would." Obviously by you two he was referring to her and T'lor.

He sneezed a couple of times, then. Dusty as could be! He hated dust. It always made him sneeze like nothing else. One thing was for sure--dusting these things was out of the question. He'd prefer to just organize them. Even that would get the sneezes rolling. Itchy eyes, nose and skin? This was a really a dragon's dung job for him of all people. Still, misery loved company. He seemed to be in a room with about four others. It wouldn't be so bad.

~~~~~~

Kiana had pretty much had time to explore the whole Weyr in the past sevenday before she'd gotten assigned chores. Archive duty sounded pleasant. She could dust off the old records, or maybe organize, or copy. It was a really easy job for her. She found working quietly or with others to be relaxing and she was looking forwards to seeing if she'd meet others there. Thus far, she'd only met a couple people and it had been brief. They'd all been busy about their business, and she hers. Still, she recognized Ariaya from the barracks.

"Hey there Ari," she began, and then, "hello to the rest of you, too. Is there anything I could help anyone with?" She figured she might as well offer. If there was something that took precedence here, she wouldn't mind doing that. Or if someone wanted company, or needed help. She was a pretty helpful person, after all. A couple of boys and a few girls? They had a nice mix. She looked forwards to getting their names and perhaps to know a couple of them. Were any but Ari in the candidate barracks? She was certain she'd seen a couple of them with young dragons. She'd only just missed the hatching. Arrived two days too late. A pity for her, but there was always next time!

~~~~~~

Mihkal didn't like asking for directions. Still, he figured he had to. He had to go and do his chores. It was better to get them over with and done than to ignore them like some were wont to do. So, hands in his pockets, he followed the directions he'd been given until he arrived at the archives.

Stepping inside, he spotted a few other people already there. Probably doing chores. Weyrlings and candidates had to do them. Still, why did they have to assign this many here? How much could there possibly be to do in this room? He had been told his options. Dusting was just boring as could be, but so were the others. He figured he'd organize. It seemed someone was already studiously at work copying. The dust settling around the other young man was visible from where he stood. Waving a hand absentmindedly in front of his face, he took a head count. Yes, he was not going to be alone in here, that was for sure.

He didn't say anything, since it was apparent someone else had. If they wanted his name they could always ask for it. He was bad at introductions and he wasn't particularly keen on offering them to an entire group, either. So, instead, he walked over to the large stack of scrolls that needed organizing, and unfurled one to see what was inside. Records? He'd actually have to skim through these to see what they were about. Maybe copying was better. At least he could do it one at a time, and leave the organizing to someone else. He brushed his blond locks out of his blue eyes, and glanced over at where L'ka sat. Yeah . . . he would have definitely preferred general Weyr duties or kitchen duties. Nothing doing for it now, though. He'd have to just get this over with.