All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright © Anne McCaffrey 1967,2000, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne McCaffrey, used here with permission. Use or reproduction without a license is strictly prohibited. For more information, visit the Worlds of Anne McCaffrey.

22-12-00: Life
Pushing the door aside, you pass into redolent chaos. Kelson is absorbed in his seemingly bottomless mug of klah. Hanneke,...

Pushing the door aside, you pass into redolent chaos.

Kelson is absorbed in his seemingly bottomless mug of klah.

Hanneke, the bouncy happy one, half-dances into the Dining Hall, selecting a mug, filling it, and then taking a seat at the apprentice table, calling out a general, and rather far too animated and invigorated, "Hello, Harpers! Isn't it a -wonderful- evening?" Same as every evening, according to Hanneke.

Lynda emerges from the main hall.

Kelson lifts his mug towards Hanneke, shrugging over a shoulder.

The probbie looks vague disappointed at such a response, but only for a moment or two, before her usual, brilliant smile returns, and she merely bounces upon her chair some more. Lynda, arriving, is given another brilliant smile: "Hullo!"

Kelson looks into his bottomless klah for a few moments.

Kelson looks up again, then crawls over his bench, weaving his way over to the apprentice table. Master-shmaster .. they'll never be as fun as the apps.

"..and I just don't care," Lynda mutters under her breath as she crosses beneath the familiar arch, plucking off thick leather gloves in her saunter. "It's cold, late, and I'm ..." she continues, speaking quietly under her breath -- such vexed words spoken with an undeniable fondness. Then, the chime from across the room catches the Fortian rider's attention. With a wave of her hand and tired smile, Lynda crosses the distance and plops into a seat.

Hanneke does indeed beam an awful lot more as she's joined, her smile not abating as she rests elbows upon the table, tossing tawny curls about her face. "How nice! Hullo, peoples. Do I know you? Do you know me? I'm Hanneke, and I'm a probationary apprentice. You might know my Mother." THe words just spill out.

Kelson pulls up on the bench, seating across from Lynda. "Kelson. Master Kelson." Hand extended, and all. To who, not quite clear yet.

Kelson throws his gitar on the table, and waits for a shake. Anyone. Please, anyone.

"Aren't you an amiable one," Lynda chuckles, removing her helmet with one hand and shaking her hair free of its knot with the other. "Master Kelson, it's been some time. I've met you before, -turns- ago when I was an Apprentice in these halls. I must admit," she considers, glancing at the gentleman for a second or so, "you're looking good." Leaning into the back of her seat, she crosses her right leg over her left and glances at the hand. "Lynda, rider of Blue Zavinth of Fort. Fort's greetings, Master... and a pleasure, Hanneke."

Hanneke raises her hand, grasping at Kelson's with a bright smile, and a firm shake, "Hi, Master Kelson!" She pulls back rather quickly, dimpling smiles about, and settling into her seat. "Well met, Ly--no, no, I suppose I ought to call you Bluerider. Because it's polite, and stuff."

Kelson beams. Hot damn! Looking good! "Well, thankyou ... I'm sorry Lynda." An awkward moment for him, since he attempts to pride himself in his social abilities.

Kelson grabs his gitar again, and begins fiddling. "Fort eh? I really should get out more ... I'm still hiding away in Loreli's ex-wyer. I imagine Harry must've reported me missing by now."

"Actually, the polite thing to do would to call me Lynda. 'Bluerider' is a generic term you refer to those riders of the color whose name you don't know," the former Journeyman chuckles, shaking her head just a touch at the young woman's vibrance. Silent for a moment, she turns towards Kelson and curls a half-smile, lips tugging right slightly. "That was humor, I'm impressed," she teases, ears perking to the mention of Loreli. "Wow. I'm -really- impressed. You're a man of taste, I can see. Heh. Harry's as ornery as ever -- I'm sure if he didn't think you were coming back that you'd have received word of his displeasure already."

Hanneke ohs, her complexion deepening with a rose-hued blush, smile never abating. "Lynda, then. I can do that -- I prefer calling people by their first names. It's ever so hard, when I want to call people here by their names, and can't." Babbling on about nothing, and then, she stops, going silent as the two older people (and this is completely relative) talk. Wide eyed interest. Little evesdropper.

Kelson grins, flicking his pony-tail back with one hand. "I probably accounted for half-a-turn's worth of his business. And with respect to taste, I can assure you that Loleli was the best thing that ever happened to me." HIs fiddling his gitar become a little more busy on that note.

"Loreli was the best thing that happened to a great many, and I'm not making some tasteless innuendo," Lynda chimes softly, languidly turning her chestnut gaze over her shoulder and onto a passing drudge. "Could you ... Yeah. Thank you. .." she murmurs, nodding to the meek male as they speak. Then, business concluded, Lynda returns her attention to her present company. "Harry's ever the dear he's always been. Popular to boot."

Kelson laughs, a little bit of fake in it. 'I almost think thats the problem,' he murmurs, as he grabs his gitar around the neck and shuffles out. ''Night, the both oh you.'

Hanneke's dull gaze would hint at less than average intelligence, either that, or less than average comprehension skills. "G'night! Sleep well and stuff! I hope you will, 'cause it's cold, and it's good to sleep well when it's cold." Girl blinks vacantly after Kelson, before her attention is returned to Lynda, warily eyeing the bluerider with vague interest.

Kelson dozes off. Gee, he does that well, doesn't he?

"Are you a wherry or do you gawk like that out of sheer curiosity?" Lynda teases, noticing the expression upon the proby's face. Reaching her right hand behind her head, she tends to an itch on the back of her neck. "If you've got questions, do ask -- it's a far cry better than eyeing. Besides, I've been where you are.. I may have some sort of insight. Or at least warnings." She winks.

"Warnings?" Hanneke is slightly breathless as she pushes that word through her mouth, into the open. "About what?" She blushes, again, bouncing about in her seat. "I was only looking, and I know that it's not polite, so I will stop. I have stopped, haven't I? I'm sorry -- Mother always said it was rude, and she's right." As if realising that she is, indeed, babling, the apprentice shuts her mouth again. "but I'm not a wherry." At least, not a feathered one.

Laughing, Lynda turns away from Hanneke and reaches towards the approached drudge's tray. Depositing a few marks from her jacket pocket, she nods to the young man and wishes him a pleasant day. "I can see that you're not of the feathered variety, so I do suppose that I can elaborate just a touch. Warnings, yes. The most important warning of all (which will go beyond this Hall even) is: Don't -ever- get caught.. unless you really want to."

Hanneke's face takes on an air of confusion, her shoulders shifting into a shrug of sorts, until she stops herself. "Don't get caught. I don't think I do anything to get caught at, but I'll remember it. Were you caught, often?" The young woman shifts within her seat, moving forearms so that they rest within her lap. "Mother says that's it is a very good thing not to do things that get one caught."

"Heh. No, not often. However, the few times that I -did- get caught, I got caught engaged in something horribly rotten. Punishments are just the pits. Trust me, you're young and there -will- be a time when you'll understand what exactly I mean. Just keep that in mind, okay?" Lynda says, inhaling the rich aroma of her klah. "And your mother won't be around forever. There'll be a time when you start thinking for yourself."

Hanneke, think for herself? Oh, surely not. Oblivious to the horrors of such, the probationary apprentice bobs her head slowly, responding, "That's why I came here. Mother said I needed to learn how to think." Innocently, she says this, and not falsely innocent, either. "I'm sure I will, when I'm older. Then I'll be able to thank you properly!"

"Kiddo, you've got alot to learn, I can see it. Tell me, have you ever kissed someone in a way that you wouldn't kiss your mother?" Lynda asks, shifting in her seat some to better look at the other, a dubious smirk curled upon pale lips. "Have you ever had to make a decision that affected your entire life and future? Mmm.. I don't think so, but you will. However, I don't know you well enough to say that it's true or not...not that it isn't so clearly obvious."

Hanneke giggles, a highly, well, -high- pitched noise, blushing brightly: "I haven't kissed anyone, but I'd like to! There are some really -cute- boys about." She positively beams, but sobers, slightly, before shaking her head, "No. I suppose not. Clearly obvious? Is it? I better learn a lot, then. And fast. How do I learn?"

"Things just happen.. and if you're smart, you'll learn from them. Mistakes, mostly." Trying her absolute best not to roll her eyes, Lynda hides a small grimace behind the bulk of her mug. 'Must she squeal??' she thinks to herself, a seemingly distracted look upon her face as she sips in silence. Then, after a moment or so, she smirks again and props her left elbow on the table. "So how do you like it here?"

Hanneke has to squeal. It's who she is. Not that that's more than a simple, idle fact. "Oh. Okay, then. I'll just wait for things to happen to me." Pause, curious glance again, "What kind of things?" Yes, she is very, very slow. Don't you pity her teachers? "Oh, I like it an awful lot. Everyone seems very nice, and there's lots of new people to meet and say hi to. I counted up how many people I knew here for Journeywoman Sass--" Pause, "But I forgot."

"Shards woman!" Lynda snickers in laughter, tilting her head back and looking to the rafters above. "-Where- is your head?? Why don't you do yourself a favor and make notes or tie knots in thread -- something to help you remember things? As for 'what kind of things'... all sorts. Everything from kisses to sex and drinking -- things that you /shouldn't/ be involved in as an apprentice of any sort. However, I've seen others like you come in, in my time. Something changes and the dimglows (not that you are one: a dimglow) learn a few things and start getting out there and being normal."

Hanneke points, rather stupidly, towards her head. "It's right here, isn't it?" The girl blinks at the dragonrider, then, after a long pause, nods. "Notes, and strings, and stuff. I can do that. Craftmaster Allegria said she'd get me a--a--abadus, was it? To help me count." She bites at her lip, watching Lynda carefully, "Kisses and sex and drinking. Oh. All right."

"Craftmaster Allegria. Mmmm.. Wow," Lynda purrs, wrinkling her nose as she turns in her chair to glance at a table at the far end of the room. "I remember when I first saw her. She happened to have been just leaving from that table over there. Her and a few of her Healer buddies. She was an Apprentice. It's amazing how the turns change. One minute you're peeling tubers and playing games of dragon dice, and the next you're a dragonrider or Master. Then, you close your eyes for a second and there's a Craftmaster where a child once stood. Amazing."

Hanneke raises a single eyebrow -- her left, for anyone who is counting -- an dfollows Lynda's gaze, shaking her head. "I didn't think that she was -every- an apprentice. She's--Mother says that she remember her, though. Vaguely. From turns ago."

"Oh -yes- she was.. an Apprentice. Funny thing was, I found myself at Ista as an Apprentice and her as my mentor. She was a Journeyman at the time. In fact, it was shortly before or after Master Rylian's death. He was a good man," Lynda chuckles, sighing as she mentions Rylian's name. "Oh, the stories I could tell... However, why should I give away such good blackmail?" the bluerider teases, winking. "And -who- is your mother? If she knows Allegria and the Hall, I've probably come upon her sometime."

Hanneke raises an eyebrow once more -- this time the right -- and slowly, tentatively, nods her head. Still beaming, of course, but that's a given. "Really? I can't imagine that. I mean--she's so--so--I don't know how to describe it. I don't have words, I guess." She frowns, for about two seconds, before adding, "Journeywoman Harper Anniye -- specialising in Law and Archives." She beams proudly, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Aah. The name doesn't sound familiar. However, I could very well have likely come across her a time or two, being that I mentored after Master Mystech (another one I've seen through Apprenticehood). Shards! I remember when Mystech was a mere proby herself... and when she was pregnant with the twins. Wow. I am just getting up there in turns," Lynda snorts, rolling her eyes. "This hall has certainly seen some good times and bad times. I must admit that I spent a great deal of growing up in this place. It's amusing to look back and see some Holdbred Harper's daughter become some rider. Oh do remember your time here, Han. You'll be looking back on it someturn."

Hanneke shakes her head slowly, explaining, "Mother and Father moved away from here when I was only four, and that's ten turns ago, so I don't expect a lot of people to remember her." The girl listens, in vague awe, at Lynda's memories, shaking her head. "You have so many stories! It's--" she emits a long sigh. "One day, I will to. Yes! I'll tell the little children at Lemos, when I have time away from Mother's records, about my time here. Because it's special."

"I'm from Ruatha myself -- a small farm on the outskirts. I was there a few months ago to tend to business. Business. That's another thing that you'll be learning about in all its forms," Lynda admits, uncrossing her legs. "These leathers make sitting comfortably near impossible some days. It's just -horrible- outside and ::between:: is no better... so I've got to wear these heavy things."

"Ruatha? I've never been there. Only been here, and Lemos, and the trip between the two. Business? What about business? I don't know anything about business." Similar to a lot of things, in fact. "People seem to believe that leathers are comfortable. I though they would be. But they're not? Oh."

"Heavy leathers aren't. Regular leathers are just fine -- but better after they've been worn in." Scratching at one of the buckles on her trous, Lynda quirks a faint smile and sighs. "Oh you'll see. For now, just take my word for it -- and know that a rider's word is his/her bond. As for traveling. I've been just about everywhere, and the amusing part is that perhaps most of that travel was before Zavinth. I've been posted to High Reaches, Ista, Fort, the Hall.. and I'd been to the Weyrs and the bay. Oh, just so many places."

Hanneke's head nods, tawny curls resting neatly about her shoulders. "I'd like to travel, I think. I don't know anything about places, and it's a good thing to know lots about places, Mother says. But I'm going to go back to Lemos when I'm a Journeywoman," which will probably never happen, anyway, "and help her. So. I don't know."

"Well I'm sure that you'll be an ... interesting Journeywoman, someday," Lynda tries to assure the young girl, even going so far as to offer a bright toothy smile. "Just do yourself a favor and not try to rush it. Take your time and enjoy doing things that you shouldn't, pressing your luck and limits, and not getting caught. Do it while you've got an excuse -- youth -- and become better for it." Winking, Lynda glances towards the archway and offers a wave to the passing Healers.

Interesting is probably the key word, yes. Frankly, Hanneke will be interesting, no matter what happens. "Interesting? Do you think so? I'd like to be the kind of person that people -talk- about. Earlier, Craftsecond Byre and Journeywoman Sass were talking about Davad. I'd like to be like that; being talked about." The girl positively beams, for no real reason, before adding, "Do things. I will! I'll try everything. I don't want to have babies, though, so I'll avoid that."

"Sometimes being talked about isn't exactly a good thing. Sometimes being talked about could be a downright -bad- thing." Happening a glance towards the ceiling, Lynda recognizes a few of the firelizards by their bands, wrinkling her nose and contemplating. "Y'know what you should do sometime? Make some friends with the other Apprentices. Journeymen and Masters are all fine-and-dandy to talk with and all, but there's a certain professional distance that's kept at all times. You should consider making friends with the other Appies and well.." give Allegria a taste of what they gave Charlton. She smirks.

Hanneke frowns, "But if they talk about you, then at least you're noticing you." This is a key factor in all things, you must see. She rests her arms upon the table, eyes reseeking those of Lynda's. "Make friends with them? Oh, I do! I mean, I try. But Davad doesn't talk, and--one of the others, I forget her name, she eats bread with ink stains on it!"

"So you want to be noticed is the bottom line.." Lynda gets it. "Y'know, maybe you've just gotta find out what they're like and what they like. Find something you have in common with them and build from there. Building from there, you make friends and making friends is getting noticed. Those people you befriend and who befriend you won't so easily forget who you are...and you get to have fun in the process. There's so much that you're missing out on. It's a shame."

Hanneke hesitates, but, in a long nod, agrees, tossing hair across her shoulders once more. "I--I will try. Mother says that it's good to listen to advice from other people, and so I guess you're right. Besides -- I like the other people. Mother just said that I was to concentrate on my studies, and not too much on the other apprentices. Maybe she's wrong, this once." The girl doesn't pause to dwell on this; it would probably take her in the wrong direction, anyway. "I just want to have fun, I guess."

"Have fun but not -too- much fun," Lynda giggles, pressing her lips firm and standing. Leaning forward, she sets her half-empty mug of lukewarm klah upon the table and sighs. "Zavinth says that it's about time for our sweeps... Do me a favor, Han. If you forget that we even had this conversation, take one thing from it and keep it close to your heart. Life is about balance. It's more than merely existing and should go beyond studies, knots, and duty. Your world should be one of love. Be here because you -want- to, because you -love- the Craft.. not because your mother says so. Follow your heart and learn how to balance fun and responsibility. It may sound a bit weighted and my words may come off as cliche... or just may go over your head. You're young, now, and it won't last. Remember that." Smiling, a sincere and warm smile, the bluerider gathers her gear and pauses for just a second to glance at the girl before heading towards the archway without a second glance.

Hanneke repeats, frowning, "Balance. Not because Mother says--Oh. Good night!"