You amble eastwards to the bright and cheerful living caverns.
K'dir shrugs. "But...it's true. Do you think I'm being out of line?"
Osasune mumbles, "Um, well, the, um, you remember how the Weyrleader was that time, right? With the not talking about anything? And, um, well, I mean... it's nice to be complimented on, but I'd really you didn't if you're just, um, practicing on me or something."
Ilesyn's hair has gone all fuzzy again, thanks to the rain, but she appears to be in reasonable spirits; she's certainly not trudging, just wandering lazily, towards the serving tables for food.
K'dir gives you a strange look. "Practicing on you?" He shakes his head. "No. I don't do that. I think that you are looking healthier, and in better condition, and I think I should be able to compliment you on it. I dodn't mean to give offense. I'm sorry."
"Oh. Right. You just meant it in a fr... right. My bad," Osasune mumbles. Wait, what's this? "Ilesyn! HI!"
Ilesyn turns. "Osasune," she agrees, in greeting, with a smile. "K'dir." Another smile. She picks up her plate, stepping towards the pair.
K'dir turns around to see Ilesyn. "Hello, Ilesyn!" he says. "How's it going?"
"Come sit with us!" Osasune blurts.
Ilesyn gives Osasune a peculiar glance, frowning, but does indeed join the pair, her expression falling back towards a smile. "It's going all right, I suppose. How about for you two?" Is she staring at Osasune through the corner of her eye? It's hard to tell.
K'dir points to Osasune. "She was doing fine for a while there."
"I'm still fine. I'm perfectly fine. I don't feel stupid at all," Osasune says, picking up a root off her plate and crunching into it.
"Really?" Ilesyn's tone suggests that she's not entirely certain she believes Osasune, though she grins, toothlessly. "I'm glad to hear it, though."
K'dir clears off his plate. He's eaten hardly anything in the last hour for a dinner. "Got any questions for me, Ilesyn? Everything going well with you and your dragon? I saw his from above the Bowl early this morning. He seems to be growing srtonger."
Osasune smiles, saying, "Did you know I can't remember my mentor's name?"
Ilesyn glances down at her plate, and finally picks up her fork, picking at the meal lazily. "No, not really," she responds to K'dir. "I guess he's fine, and I'm fine, and all of that."
K'dir makes a half snort as he leans on the table with one arm, sliding over to the side. "You don't sound real committed there on that, Ilesyn. You sound like...you don't want to commit to the fact that you are discovering that being a rider can be a good thing." Then he looks over at Osasune. "I'll find out for you," he says.
Osasune blinks twice, then points a root at K'dir. "Yes! That's it! N'veen!" She pauses. "Who's N'veen?"
"I'm not," insists Ilesyn - perhaps rather too insistantly. "He really /is/ fine, and I'm really fine, mostly, and I don't see how that isn't commitment."
K'dir says "He's a brnze rider...His dragon's name is...Oh, let me think...Jocoth. I think he used to be a WeyrLeader at Monaco...." He turns back to look at Ilesyn. "Oh. All right," he responds. "I'm sorry, I must be really tired. I somehow seem to be hearing edges that evidently aren't there."
Osasune's eyes widen. "He used to be a /Weyrleader/?"
Or perhaps Ilesyn is just hiding things. She smiles - and then picks up upon the other strand of conversation, rapidly. "N'veen. He was Weyrleader after I was in Monaco, I believe. I don't know him, either."
K'dir shrugs. "Like...what do bronzeriders have to do with me unless they are giving me an order, anyway."
"What do they have to do with me that one's my /mentor/?" Osa squeaks.
Ilesyn's eyes roll. "He's just a /bronzerider/. No different from any other rider, really." She picks at her food, nudging at it with her fork.
K'dir says "Tell /that/ to a bronzerider."
"Once a Weyrleader," Osasune says, waving a biscuit at Ilesyn. "I just think it's weird. I've never even met him, either. Everyone else has a mentor they've met."
Ilesyn huhs, beneath her breath, head shaking again as she glances at her plate, and pushes it away. "I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough, Osasune, and then you'll wish you hadn't. They just have inflated egos, bronzeriders."
K'dir half lays across the table as he slouches foward in his chair. "He probably is a reat sourse of information and inspiration. Just look at our own WeyrLeader. That's a tough job. Best to give him a fair chance." He catches Ilesyn's motion with her plate. "Not hungry?"
"Oh, very encouraging," Osasune mutters.
"Not really," admits Ilesyn, easily, unworried. "Poor Osa. Never mind, I don't think you'll miss out on too much. K'dir'll surely pass on any information you miss out on, or I will."
K'dir mentions to Ilesyn, "I wasn't very hungry, either. I'm Ilesyn's mentor, but I don't see why I can't answer questions for you, Osa."
Osasune's head bobs. "I thought. I mean, I'll just... ask him, I guess. K'dir. Not N'veen."
Ilesyn drawls, lazily, "It's almost amusing, really. Oldest weyrling, nearly youngest rider." She nods at Osasune, stretching out within her chair.
K'dir thinks on that comment for a moment, trying to do the math. "How do you figure, Ilesyn?"
"Ilesyn's one of the older Weyrlings, and you're one of the youngest riders," Osasune says. "Your actual ages, not how long you've been a Weyrling or rider respectively."
"Hm?" queries Ilesyn, glancing up at K'dir. "How do I figure what?"
K'dir gives his head a sharp little shake. "oh. What she said."
K'dir says "Thank you, Osa."
Osasune smiles a little, looking pleased with herself. "You're welcome!"
Jalis ambles in from the center bowl.
Jalis walks into the caverns, not really watching where she steps as she's reading over a scroll while she walks, nose firmly planted in its page.
Ilesyn sits back, sliding downwards in her seat. "Oh, good. Thank you, Osa." Her hands are folded in her lap, somewhat uncomfortably. Jalis' entrance is missed; she's facing the wrong way.
Jalis finally lifts her face and smiles as she glances around the room. Her hands drop to her sides, one grasping the scroll as it flutters against her leg. "Hello." She says, voice warm and friendly,
K'dir gives a little laugh. "I must be more tired than I thought. I missing everything." He stretches his arms out, twisting halfway around in his chair. "Oh...! Hello, Jalis! Is it still drizzling outside?"
Osasune looks up and over at Jalis; she stands up, salutes, and and says, "Good afternoon, Weyrwoman," before sitting again and resuming her meal.
[Missed poses - my net dropped.]
K'dir looks over at Jalis, surprised. "I didn't know you were a twin, Jalis."
Osasune smiles. "Um, no, that's fine - I don't mind sharing at all." She waves again, calls, "Good afternoon!" and heads out.
Osasune walks off westwards to the center bowl.
Jalis chuckles at K'dir and nods. "My brother rides a blue at Tera Weyr down south. Nenimeth. His name is Th'ton." She tells him, informatively.
T'nar regards his klah for a long moment, and then looks back up, raising a hand to Osa in farewell. "Does dragonriding run in your family, Jalis - er... Weyrwoman?" the young man quickly corrects.
Jalis chuckles and shakes her head, "Nope, not a whit. My father's a Master weaver, my mother's a Journeyman Weaver." She grins "In fact, both Thax and I were weavers. We came to Tera weyr to trade some of our parents' surplus goods, and Thax and I stayed to help make clothing out of those goods. Then we were both Searched, me by a brownrider named Justine, or wait, was that the second time?" She shakes her head, "I don't remember." She remarks.
"You stood several times, Weyrwoman?" queries Ilesyn, leaning forward slightly. She's been silent, for a while, staring at her plate, and not really paying attention.
Jalis replies eagerly, "Oh yes, four times. Twice at Tera weyr, once at Erindar and then when Naiad came north to take the place of the last Fortian queen left at this Weyr and become her heir, I was transfered up here to be a Weyrweaver. Ceristh came from Naiad's queen Solaeth. I actually stood in the same clutch Solaeth came from, funny enough." She reminesces.
Sip. "Do you have a story behind your Impression of Ceristh, Weyrwoman?" T'nar politely inquires, nodding his interest as Jalis' words. "I didn't know about this 'last Fortian queen' thing - but i've always been a Southerner." A quick unfocusing of eyes, and then he comes back to the room with a dry chuckle. "I /was/ a Southerner."
K'dir gives a little chuckle at T'nar's words.
Ilesyn goes silent again, almost musingly. "So you really thought it was worth it? To give up your Journeymanship?"
Jalis shakes her head. "There's no special story. Ceristh tromped around and then finally made her way to me. She was very haughty about it all." She chuckles. "Demanded attention, naturally. She's a greedy creature." She goes silent for a moment at Ilesyn's comment. She chews on her lower lip for a moment and then says "I did a lot of soul searching before I accepted that final stand on the sands here at Fort." She tells Ilesyn seriously, "I considered many times turning it down, and many times berated myself for giving up the chance -- would I ever know? I finally promised myself it would be the last time I would do it. The very last time. I was content as a weaver, you see, but I didn't want to go on not knowing what might of happened, you know?" She says. "And I have never regreted it. I still get the opportunities now and again to employ my craft and train others to sew and mend and hem or spin and card wool or weave." She grins "The weyr is a big place and there's always a new person needing my help with it. I don't regret it. I like to think I make a difference too, right where I am."
"I don't know of one dragon yet that /hasn't/ demanded some kind of attention," T'nar smirks slightly, and then sobers. "My only hesitation was enduring the Candidacy. I can /always/ hunt with Baedanth."
"Sisala likes to sew. She's good at it," K'dir puts in a plug for his cousin. "She's made this beautiful gown. She showed it to me the other day. So even though she's a rider, she still has time to pursue her craft.
Ilesyn inclines her head forward, very slowly. "I see," she says, at length. "Thank you, Weyrwoman. Do you-- do you intend to take up your craft more seriously again, when the pass has ended, or you have retired?" Her head is turned in response to K'dir's comment, and she nods again.
Jalis smiles at Ilesyn. "Naturally, I would. I don't see why I shouldn't, considering I keep myself busy with it whenever I've the time." She nods her head. "You know Ilesyn, there's still ways you could employ bits of your craft as a dragonrider after your training is complete. I'm sure the healers would have more information for you about it."
T'nar nods at Ilesyn. "I think I understand how difficult it would be for someone as devoted to your Craft as you are to have to leave it behind for awhile, Ilesyn. But I do agree with the Weyrwoman." Another long sip of klah. "By-the-way, how are you and Nallath doing with your bonding?"
Ilesyn glances at T'nar, levelly. "No, I think you can /try/ to understand. There's a difference." A shrug of her shoulders is added; evidently, it's intended in some kind of response to his question, while she's in the process of answering Jalis, "I'll talk to them. Thank you. I think most of them are still laughing at me, though." Her brow furrows.
Jalis raises an eyebrow "I doubt it Ilesyn. Perhaps you only percieve they do because you think they would. I have heard no disparagement." Then she stands slowly. "I have to bid you all goodbye for now. It is getting late and I have so many things to do.
"Baedanth's 'voice' still surprises me sometimes," T'nar ponders, his eyes leveling upon Ilesyn. "Of course, that's what I intended," he murmurs to the woman with only a slight bit of coolness in his tone.
"I've never been close to the majority of the healers," is Ilesyn's response to Jalis, somewhat cool. "And my particular subcraft was never particularly well thought of. But perhaps you're right." She inclines her head forward. "Good evening, Weyrwoman." Another shrug is made to T'nar, silently.
T'nar rises fluidly as Jalis takes her leave. "Have a good evening, ma'am," he calls, then retakes his seat.
K'dir says "So what difference does it make what they think then, Ilesyn? Go with what your heart tells you. The rest is crackdust."
Jalis smiles at Ilesyn and stares at her for a moment. "Its unfortunate that they were never close to you Ilesyn, it is their loss." She says simply, with a shrug, "But now you are part of us and our Weyr, irrevokably. You're part of our family now, you and Nallath both and hopefully we will treasure you more completely than you feel the Healers did." She tells her meaningfully before sweeping off with warm smiles and nods and well wishing for everyone.
T'nar watches the Weyrwoman's back as she leaves, and then swings back around to regard both of you. "How does your new family suit you, Ilesyn? As Jalis aptly put it."
Jalis walks off westwards to the center bowl.
Ilesyn regards Jalis, as she leaves, in silence - almost musingly. K'dir's comments draw a smile, as she turns her head in that direction. "Wise words. Thank you, K'dir." Again, a shrug towards T'nar, as she notes, "Well enough, I suppose. As well as any family. Plenty of idiots, plenty of nice people, plenty of people with problems that I itch to help with."
K'dir twists out of his chair and scurries over to Ilesyn, hugging here. "Sister!" he chirps in a high voice, being silly.
Ilesyn pauses, regarding K'dir for a moment, then giggles, hugging him. "Brother!-- Although, I think I'd rather be your cousin, or something like that. Second cousin thrice removed."
T'nar chuckles, and rises from his seat, finishing off the rest of his klah. "Is /everyone/ related at this Weyr?!?" he calls out in mock astonishment. "I must heed the call of Baedanth summoning me. Good night."
K'dir hugs tighter. "I have plenty of cousins already!" He gives Ilesyn a little kiss on her cheek. "I need to get to bed. Sylviath is really pushing me to get up to bed. We've had a full Sevenday of pre Dawn sweeps, and then some...and I can't keep forcing myself to stay up, even though I'd like to. MAybe we can talk tomorrow?" He looks at both T'mar and Ilesyn.
Ilesyn squeezes K'dir in response, nodding. "Sleep well. Both of you, then." Another nod. "Of course."
"Tomorrow then," T'nar grins - waving tio the both of you as he exits.
K'dir says softly, "Good night." He even goes over to hug T'nar. "My reguards to your lifemates, too." And hea heads out.
K'dir walks off westwards to the center bowl.
Posted by Louise at January 29, 2003 05:01 PM