The young weyrling looked down at her new dragon, curled up on the dragon couch that made her small form look even more miniature than it already did. Her frail wings were curled up against her side daintily, though her long tail contrasted the angelic picture as it splayed across the dragon couch rather haphazardly. Her green coloring was a deep forest green against the coldness of the gray stone. Nady couldn't help but pause in her preparations for the feast. Briakath was perfect; nothing marred her beautiful hide and nothing could dull her shine in her rider's eyes. How this little innocent creature had chosen her, of all people, to love, Nady didn't know. But she was far from complaining…very far from complaining.
Tearing her eyes away, Nady headed over to the washbowl, noticing finally the blood that was spattered on her hands and arms. Feeding a dragon was dirty work and she was eager to get the rusty red color off of herself.
As she splashed the water on her arms and hands, it was accompanied only by the sounds of rustling fabrics and other girls, washing their hands in their own bowls. There were two others in the room, but silence persisted. It seemed that all three of the new female greenriders were enraptured with their own thoughts: their own disbelief. Nady didn't bother to speak either. The silence was pressing, but it was almost comforting. It gave her time to absorb the shock of it all.
She was a dragonrider. Nady, daughter of a pair of cooks in a simple crafthall, just Impressed a dragon. Who ever would have guessed that a dragon would Choose her out of a crowd of candidates? She was grateful, unbelievably grateful that Briakath had found her worthy. She could still feel the loving presence of the young beauty in her mind, even as the little one slept. She would never be alone again, never. Her mind, her thoughts, her life, it would all be shared with the most perfect creature gracing the lands of Pern.
She pulled the white robes over her head, folding them and laying them on her bed nicely. She assumed that someone would take care of them, but she didn't want to leave them on the floor all mussed up. That just wasn't how she was brought up. Then again, the way she was brought up, she would be the one taking them down to the river and scrubbing the reddish hue from the sleeves. It worked differently here, but she was aware that she would still have to work. Her work, though, would just be focused on the green that was currently dead asleep. It wouldn't be work though; Nady knew she would do it gladly and enjoy it. Anything for her Briakath.
With a contented sigh at her thoughts, she moved to her trunk to pull out her Gather gown. It was navy blue, mirroring her eyes, but there was little embroidery or niceties. It was simple, far from the extravagance that she was sure would grace the feast, but she wasn't concerned too much about it. She had already proven to them that she was worthy; her attire shouldn't change their opinion. If it did, then Nady was determined not to be concerned about it anyway. She wasn't sure if that mindset would persevere, but she had to tell herself something.
Putting it on, she adjusted it to sit on her curves appropriately. Tugging on the sleeves, she pulled them down her arms until the fabric floated over her fingertips. Grabbing her looking glass, she set it against the wall and proceeded to fix her hair. Twenty minutes and fifteen hairpins later, her many brunette curls were piled rakishly atop her head and she was ready to go. Gently, she brushed a feather-light kiss on her slumbering dragon's head and then headed for the door.
Nady knew no one here. She had only arrived at the weyr two days ago so she'd barely had time to get settled, much less make friends. The only girl she really talked to hadn't even Stood. The girl was determined to wait for a queen egg. Walking into the Dining Hall, she paused, wondering where to go. Thankfully, the new weyrlings were on display, a table in the center decorated just for them. Tentatively, she took a seat on the edge, barely situated before a drudge swept in to place a plate laden with food in front of her.
"Thank you," she murmured, beginning to eat before the man had even filled her cup with the sticky sweet pomegranate juice. Another smile and the man was gone, leaving her to her food and her thoughts. But not for long apparently.
"Hello, I'm Daisa who looks to the green Esith," the younger girl introduced herself after taking a seat across from her. Nady looked up, a bit surprised. No one had been sitting near her. It seemed that the huddle of weyrlings had been focused towards the other end of the table. This girl, however, deviated from the mass. She looked to be about fifteen turns, a slight contrast to her own seventeen. Nady recognized her as one of the two girls that she was sharing a room with. She seemed quite eager to talk now that the spell of the room was broken by the bustle of the Dining Caverns.
Nady offered up a friendly grin, happy that someone had chosen to come over her to talk with her. "I'm Nady belonging to the green Briakath." It felt so right to add her dragon's name to her own. She couldn't imagine not ever getting the pleasure of doing so. It just sounded so magnificent to her ears.
The petite blonde across from her returned the smile, leaning back slightly as the drudge placed her food in front of her. "So," she began after taking a few bites, "Are you holdbred or craftbred?" Nady noticed she didn't even add 'weyrbred' to that list. She hadn't realized that it was that obvious she hadn't grown up here.
"Craftbred," she admitted, "Weavers Hall, you?"
"Weyrbred. Born and raised here," she answered.
Nady nodded, pausing for a second. Why was she talking to her, then instead of with all of her other friends? If she'd lived here all of her life, wouldn't she have other friends to talk to, to congratulate her. Nady caught herself; she just had to be so cynical! She couldn't just accept that someone was being nice to her.
"Was this your first hatching?" Daisa asked, breaking through her thoughts.
"Yes actually. Was it yours as well?" She had no idea when the acceptable age was to start Standing. All she knew of the weyr was the sparse old stories that circulated the hall and what she'd learned since being Searched (which wasn't much).
Daisa shook her head emphatically, "I've been Standing since I was thirteen turns. This was my third time." A fond look passed over her face and her fellow weyrling knew that she had to be thinking about her dragon.
"I knew it was your first time," Daisa continued, her voice taking on a tone as if she was telling Nady a secret. She lowered her voice a little bit, "I know you just came in a few days ago. My oldest brother Searched you." She laughed, clearly outlining the joke that her "secretive" tone had created.
Oh, that explained a lot. Nady had been getting ready to balk at the fact that she was talking down to her. Instead, she just softly joined the laughter, "So your brother's D'ly? He was kind to me." She lowered her voice a little, this time actually having a secret to share. "I was a bit nervous about flying for the first time and he made me feel better."
"He's good like that. He liked Searching, but he really wants to be Weyrling Master. He's young himself, but he'd be good at it. But the Weyrling Master here has been whipping weyrlings into shape for turns. There's no way that man's going anywhere anytime soon."
Nady nodded, trying to keep her face solid. 'Whipped'…that's a strong word. She hoped that Daisa hadn't meant it literally. She had no idea what the customs were here. Whipping was very uncommon in the crafthalls, but it could be completely different here.
Daisa didn't notice her sudden apprehension, surprised by the arrival of her brother. "D'ly! You do pick out the best. Both of yours Impressed!" she complimented him, grabbing his hands with a big smile on her face. He smiled back, his face lighting up in a rather youthful manner. The bluerider was only twenty four turns and he looked quite a bit younger. He had unkempt short curly brown hair and bright hazel eyes. He was attractive, in a cute, youthful way. Nady smiled at him, a grateful gleam to her eye. He had brought her here; he had given her a chance for her Briakath to find her.
"Congratulations," he told her, his voice pitched much lower than his wiry frame suggested.
"Thank you," she replied, refusing to cave-in to her desire to look down. She had to face people head on here; else wise they would never respect her. Her mother had pressed as much into her before she left.
"Dance with me," the other greenweyrling broke through, standing up and pulling her brother towards the square at the front of the room where everyone was twirling to the lively tune.
D'ly relented, nodding his goodbye to Nady before allowing his sister to drag him away. The new weyrling stayed put, nodding her goodbye as well. And then the table was empty at her end, leaving her to her food and nothing else.
She'd only taken a few bites, though, when she found that she had company once again.
"Do you wish to dance?" Nady looked up, shock written on her face: in front of her stood a very attractive man. He had very noticeable green eyes and straight brown hair that flipped out just over his eyes. His smile was wide and friendly and she was powerless to say 'no.'
"Sure," she acquiesced, her voice quiet and meek. Accepting his proffered hand, she allowed him to lead her towards the square. She had no idea why he was singling her out. After all, she was just a new weyrling and he had knots; dragonrider knots. Nady wasn't sure exactly his rank or dragon's color. She wasn't sure how weyr knots read yet.
"I'm L'nis of the bronze Krieth," he introduced himself, answering her unspoken questions as they reached the square.
Nady blushed vibrantly; he was a bronzerider. What business did he have talking with her, much less dancing with her? She was just a new weyrling, craftbred and ignorant to the ways of the weyr yet. They weren't related, how did he even know she existed? As they began to dance, her questions continued, fluttering through her mind as she attempted to banish them, knowing she needed to focus on making her feet move to the music properly.
"And you are?" L'nis prompted, firmly guiding her through the song.
She blushed even more, realizing she'd forgotten to introduce herself. "I'm Nady and my green is Briakath," she informed him, her voice even softer than before.
"Well met Nady," he replied customarily, twisting her so she sidestepped adeptly into a sudden turn. He was a skilled dancer and she was suddenly grateful for all her days spent dancing with her older brothers and friends.
"How long have you been at the weyr?" he asked, keeping the movement fluid as they traced their path along the floor.
"Two days," she replied, keeping her eyes focused in the distance instead of on his face. The song was already slowly drawing to a close.
"I hope you will enjoy the feast," the bronzerider said as the song halted. A bow and, before she could even return the sentiment, he was gone. Nady just stood there for a moment, puzzled, before turning to walk back to the table. Her food had been cleared and she barely got a chance to sit down before she heard someone calling her name.
Looking around, a puzzled expression found her face again. Then she caught sight of Daisa sitting at the opposite end of the table, in the midst of many other new weyrlings, smiling and motioning to her. Nady, still a bit confused about her whole incident with the bronzerider, placed a smile on her face and walked over. Within seconds, she was assaulted with names.
"Greetings, I'm B'kin of the green Melloth--"
"Fair winds, I'm K'ri of the green Manisath--"
"--J'ua of brown Smiadoth--"
"--J'red of green Gimarth"
"Hello, I'm N'ar of the blue Sisiriath--"
"--L'ran of blue Tiaroth."
Seven names. Seven names she was never going to be able to remember, or at least so she expected. This was going to be difficult.
"I'm Nady of Briakath," she answered, his discomfort apparent on her face. It wasn't that she wasn't outgoing; this was just nearing overwhelming!
Daisa just laughed, "Don't scare her; she's a nice one." Just that alone brought yet another blush to her face. "Okay, so watch out for L'ran over there; he's a flirt--" As if to make a point, the blueweyrling winked and grinned, drawing a small piece of laughter from Nady. "--And B'kin is fun, but if you ever find something slimy in your furs; it was him. He likes to make people squeak and he's found that girls are the easiest target. As for K'ri, he's shy but he's rather interesting late at night. J'red down there never stops smiling, I can never figure out why he's so happy--"
"Me neither, he never gets any company in his furs," L'ran inserted. J'red just grinned and shrugged.
Daisa laughed before continuing, "S'bil, well, he's a character. He never shuts up, but if you ever need to know anything about the gossip in the weyr; he knows it. N'ar and J'ua are twins and are basically inseparable. J'ua's your typical quiet one and N'ar makes up for it by talking enough for the pair of them."
That earned her a stuck out tongue from one of the identical twins (Nady was guessing it was N'ar).
"And these fools are the 'brats I grew up with. That and a few others who've yet to Impress or got lucky a turn or two before us."
All Nady could do was grin and nod. She had no idea how she was going to keep up with all of them, much less remember their names!
"Oh come on, we're not that scary. Well, at least right now we're not. We don't like to scare new people away until later," a brightly adorned youth teased. She was pretty sure it was S'bil.
"Oh no, it's not that. It's just a little hard to take this all in," she admitted, a bit flustered that they would think that they were scaring her. It took a lot more than that!
"Eh, you'll get over it soon enough," B'kin insisted, sweeping his long black hair to his back.
"If we have anything to say about it you will," Daisa reinforced, glad to see all of her friends accepting the older girl so readily.
"Well thank you," Nady answered, before noticing that one of her curls had escaped its pin. After a few moments of struggling to get it back in place, she sighed. It was hopeless. It seemed that her hair had a mind of its own.
"It's useless," she informed them, letting the errant curl fall out of her hand.
L'ran just smiled and lightly lifted the curl up and secured it back in its proper place.
"It's not that hard," he teased, a gleam in his blue eyes.
"Thank you," she replied, refusing to retaliate.
Daisa just cut in with a laugh. "Remember, I told you to watch out for him!"
"Hey, you can't ruin these things for me," the blueweyrling admonished.
"Watch me!" she quipped. "Prey on the suspecting at least, not the poor craftbred girl."
"If you mean yourself, I already told you 'no.'"
"You'd bed anything that moves so I highly doubt you'd turn me down. It's the getting me in the furs that would prove to be a challenge; nigh impossible for you."
"They're usually like that," S'bil informed her, leaning across the table a bit so that Nady could hear him over the pair's argument. "L'nar will bed her sometime or another; he's just got to get her out of denial first. And now out of weyrlinghood as well."
Nady laughed, "That's nice to know. I'll be sure to stay out of the middle of that one."
"Oh, I'm sure L'ran wouldn't mind having you in the middle. He gets as many girls in his furs as possible, even better if it's not just one at a time."
That brought a furious blush to the new weyrling's face. She was definitely not used to how free the talk was about sex here. She was used to that being something known about but left out of discussions, especially ones as casual as this one. It was obvious that it was different here at the weyr.
"You don't have to look so shocked," a voice informed her, "It's how it works here." She smiled at him, recognizing him as one of the other green weyrlings. At least someone knew that it wasn't how it was everywhere. "Come on, dance with me."
He stood up and walked over to her, bowing mockingly. Nady laughed and nodded equally as over-exaggerated before taking his hand and standing.
"Stealing her away K'ri? My, my, I thought you went for your own gender," Daisa teased, finished with her argument with L'ran for the time being.
"I can dance with girls. They manage the steps better than men and they let me lead," K'ri retorted with a grin. Nady glanced back in time to see Daisa being claimed from the table by N'ar.
And thus the night progressed, full of dancing and laughing and blushing and the formation of new friendships. Finally, Nady felt like the weyr was her home. And that night, she curled up with her Briakath, happily letting sleep claim her.