Sarine wanders into the living cavern, looking a little paler than usual, though since she just got here a day ago most wouldn't know what she looked like normally. She sits down heavily into the nearest chair and puts her elbows on the table, hands under her chin.
Ilesyn's is a relaxed pose; she's reclined within her seat, a writing utensil tangled between her fingers - evidently, she's in thought. Her head raises, briefly, as Sarine sits down at the table at which she, too, sits, her nod vague, before her attention is carried off to her thoughts once more.
Sarine smiles at Ilesyn and returns the not. She looks at the other more closely for a moment, then to her knot. "Have we met somewhere before?" Sounds like a pick up line, but isn't. "I mean, you look very familiar but I've mostly been around Harpers until now and you're not a Harper. So I guess I could be mistaken..."
"Harper hall is near Healer," offers Ilesyn, her attention still - mostly - caught upon her stylis, and the hide in front of her, which she smoothes down with one hand. Turning her head back to Sarine, she then adds, with a quick smile, "Not that I've lived there for tunrs, now. Ilesyn, Journeywoman Mindhealer."
Sarine smiles. "It's nice to meet you Ilesyn, and I'd say Harper's duties to you, if I were still a Harper, technically. My name is Sarine. And if you haven't been at the Healer's for turns I probably didn't know you from there, I've only been sent there on a couple of occassions on errands. And I've only been an apprentice for a few months, either way." She shrugs. "Maybe I saw you here, or maybe I'm completely out of it. You've lived here that long? How do you like it? For me, it takes getting used to." She grimaces. "Especially the feeding dragons..."
Ilesyn's response is dry, as she shifts her pose, turning full attention towards the new candidate. "You like to talk, don't you? Well met, Sarine. I've lived here for about two turns; I'm quite used to it." Her hands pull through her hair, yanking at knots that slow the movement. "I suppose I should say--congratulations?" She doesn't sound sure about it.
Sarine blinks. "Like to talk? I don't know, it seems that talking is like walking. You don't really think about it much, you just do it. And thanks for the congratulations, I appreciate it." She glances over to the serving table and stands up. "I was going to get myself a drink, can I get you one while I'm over there?"
"No thank you." Ilesyn shakes her head. "I'm fine." Her hands move back down to the table, the digits of her right hand picking up her stylis, then putting it down again, generally fiddling. "Does that mean that you don't think about what you say, before you say it? It just comes out?"
Sarine smiles and shakes her head. "No, it means I don't think about if I like it or not. I do it if I have something to say." She heads over to the serving table and pours some juice, before coming back and sitting down with it. She takes a sip and shrugs. "Though sometimes I think out loud. Working things out like that somethings brings out ideas that might not otherwise come out. I think that's why some of the Harper Masters have discussion groups."
Ilesyn considers, head tilted to the side, stylis dropped once more, and picked up once again. "Why do you think thinking out loud is useful? What is it about it?" She's intently curious, and leans forward, considering Sarine thoughtfully.
Sarine takes a moment to think about how to answer that. "Well...I think it's more organized sometimes than thoughts that flow through your head. You have to organize them a bit in order to speak them with any clarity. Or the process of speaking them organizes them instead. Also, it helps when you're doing it with other people, because while some idea of yours might not be complete or make complete sense, it might make sense to someone else or give them a good idea."
"But they're not usually organized, are they? You just speak outloud, so as to get them out of your head, to make them easier to think about." At least, that's how Ilesyn sees it, taking this point up to her consideration carefully. "Usually, it seems to make people more confused, when you think out loud, until you come up with an answer."
Sarine considers this for a moment. "But if you don't get them out, then you can't start organizing them. It starts the whole process. That and writing them down might. And at least it's not as confusing as say, keeping all your thoughts to yourself until you finally say something and everybody's confused because they don't know where you pulled it from. Isn't there a word for that?" She takes another sip of her drink and appears to be trying to figure out what that word was.
Ilesyn's lips twitch into a wry smile. "They sound like non-sequiters. Is that what you mean?" Her head nods, shaggy hair falling about it at the movement. "Perhaps you're right. I suppose it depends upon the situation. Even so, saying fewer words that mean more is generally better than rambling on and on."
Sarine nods happily, a smile on her face. "Yes, I think that was the word. It's a strange one though." She nods again, agreeing with Ilesyn's later statement. "Yes, I guess fewer words saying the same thing can be just as valuable as more words...except in song lyrics." She's definitely a Harper.
"Ah, but even in song lyrics, you have to be careful to keep a rhythmn. There's still a point of describing too much, having it not quite flow because it's too verbose." Ilesyn's not an expert on this, but, as she rocks on her chair, still attempting to balance stylus on her fingers, she's thinking through - concisely.
Sarine nods. "That's true too. Though sometimes you can't tell if a line in a song works--until you sing it through." She smiles, probably thinking she made a point in her favor. "In fact, one of the other journeymen said that people who want to write rhythmically should go into the lake and float there with your ears in the water, and speak the words. You'll hear them differently than otherwise and will be able to tell better if the rhythm works."
Ilesyn sits up, knawing on the edge of her stylus as she considers this idea - fascinated. "Ears underwater? That's a fascinating idea; I'd never thought of that. I suppose it would work - although I wonder *why* it would."
Sarine shakes her head. "I don't know, I never had a chance to try it. A couple apprentices thought it was a joke, something to tease the new people with who didn't know better. Though I did know a few who did go out and try it, and they said that it really is different when you hear what you sound like from underwater. Though they hadn't quite figured out how that was supposed to help with writing sons, but maybe by next time I see them they'll have advanced far enough to know."
"You should try it. Experiment. Write a thesis on it." Ilesyn's head nods firmly, her hair pushed away from her face impaciently, stylus settled behind her ear, to allow her hands to slide down to rest upon the table. "Then, if you don't Impress, you might end up getting your Journeyman rank far sooner than you would have thought. Or senior apprentice, at least."
Kaveldir ambles in from the warm and smoky hearths of the kitchen.
Sarine smiles. "Well then, maybe I should. If someone /had/ written it all out, those apprentices wouldn't have thought the journeyman was just pulling their leg. There would have been proof that someone could have pointed to." She hmms. "And to think I had the perfect chance to test it out earlier today, while I was bathing a dragon. I'll have to try it sometime tomorrow."
Kaveldir comes out o the kithen and sees the Weyr's Healer. "Hello, Ilesyn."
Ilesyn rolls her eyes, expression dubious. "How fun," is her sarcastic comment, "bathing dragons." Head nodding, however, she adds, "You should. Definitely. It really works. The writing, that is; I don't know about the water thing." Kaveldir is given a vague glance; she doesn't really know him, and therefore makes no comment.
Kaveldir walks off westwards to the center bowl.
Sarine nods cheerfully. "Actually, bathing a dragon can be quite fun if you get into it. And today it was even more fun because Kayla got searched while doing it." She looks up as someone greets Ilesyn and she smiles at the newcomer. "Hello."
Ilesyn shrugs her shoulders as Kaveldir disappears again, raising her eyebrows. "Me, I don't see the attraction. A lot of work." A lot of exercise, actually. "Oh. Another candidate searched. Wonderful." So much excitement.
Sarine smiles. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter too much. I mean, she was here already and will probably have a lot of the same chores, but it was nice to be part of and I'm sure she'll never forget the experience." She shrugs. "Maybe I like helping with it because it's a change, and because I haven't been to a Weyr too much of my life and I like to try new things. Even if they're under the guise of work."
Ilesyn's nose wrinkles, her head shaking - which dislodges the stylus tucked behind her ear, fingers grasping it before it hits the table. "Waste. You do realise that if you Impress, you'll have to risk your life in threadfall several times a sevenday? Risk loss of limb, permenant injury?" The tone behind her voice suggests 'why would you bother?'
Sarine has to think about this for a moment. "I'm not bothering, I'm experiencing life. Right now that is done by being a candidate. And if I'm meant to be left standing and continue to be a Harper, then I was meant to do that. But that doesn't mean being a candidate was a waste--it's a life experience that adds to my abilities and knowledge. And if I was meant to impress...well, it would happen whether I tried to fight it or not. If it was meant to happen my lifemate would hatch and come looking for me, whether I was there or not." She shrugs. "So I might as well be there."
"Not accepting search, however, could ensure that you weren't there - and that your lifemate, therefore, didn't hatch," argues Ilesyn, stuck on her point. "I mean, refusing search could save your life. Sure, some might say that candidacy is an important experience, but I didn't find it so. Apprenticeship is just as good - if not better."
Sarine says "Well, I have a theory that your lifemate will hatch and then you're (hopefully) there to impress to it, not the other way around where you're there so your lifemate will hatch. And then if I'm not there and my dragon did happen to hatch this clutch he or she would be looking for me wherever I happen to be. So I might as well make it easier on the poor newborn. Though there are downsides to being a dragonrider, assuming I did impress." She wrinkles her nose. "I /would/ have to get used to seeing the squishy parts of herdbeasts, I suppose. Especially if I impress to a dragon who especially likes those, like Avila's lifemate. And I wouldn't be able to make instruments anymore, though I suppose someone who is good with their hands will be an asset in a rider, so I won't have idle fingers. And I'll still be able to play. And then there's the dying stuff--but I'm not going to worry about that. Seems to me if you worry, you're more likely to make it happen. Though being careful isn't quite the same as worrying needlessly, so I'd just have to be as careful as I could be. Just as I would be as a candidate when going up or down stairs so I don't fall, or making sure not to swallow any water while swimming."
Ilesyn throws her hands up in disgust. "You people have no sense of self-preservation! You're willing to risk your life, for other people!" Ilesyn's at a loss; this is not something she can understand. "Dragonriding isn't glorious, and I can't see that it's worth it." She lunges from her seat, ducking for the doorway. "This is so *frustrating*!" One day, she'll convince someone not to stand. Maybe.
You amble southeastwards to the darker inner cavern.
Posted by Louise at January 29, 2003 10:54 AM