Gold splashings (Raelwyn)

[hrsegrl]

The afternoon sun felt good on Sharieth's hide making her not wish to get up from her sunning. Ruet, however, had a different idea of how they were spending the afternoon. A bath really isn't that necessary...Yes it is. I do not have time tomorrow and you are in desperate need of one. I neglect you horribly.Why not neglect me today... I want to sun.You sunned all morning. I know sitting in the Hatching Cavern has been a bit hard on you dear but a bath you will have. Well hurry up then. Ruet took out the pack she had made for their time at the lake.

The gold landed a few paces from the water, clearly showing off her strength and agility. Don't over do it. You are out of shape since you're clutching.Don't be so bossy. I was just having a bit of fun.Rue smiled at her light Gold. "Darling the water is cold, so you might want to just jump in." Jump in? I'm not some green. I'm much more refined than that. The queen spoke indignantly. She waded in to be defiant but soon realized Ruet was being the voice of reason today.

"Dunk your beautiful head darling. There you are. Now come a bit closer you know how hard it is to reach." She spoke outloud at times when speaking to Sharieth. It was a subconcious thing. She took out a scrub bruch and some sweet sand. Sharieth's favorite scent, of course. Ruet waded in to her waist, light green woolen dress, getting completely soaked. It was obvious the Goldrider didn't care. She began to rub Sharieth roughly. The Queen enjoyed baths and oilings because she always felt much more shiny and that made her want more attention.

The Goldrider would be hard to miss at the Lake at this hour and as such she tried not to aknowledge too many people. They would never be done if she had to talk to every person that came near or walked by. Ruet sometimes wished Sharieth was not so distinguishable. Her hide was a pale gold, with a shimmer that looked nearly silver at times. At least she was back to full health and color. Knowing that the Gold egg had hatched and impressed had taken a great load off of both of them.

[FireThorne]

Raelwyn despised being indoors after chores were over. It was not that she did not like her fellow candidates....it was that she did not like her fellow male candidates. She adored sweet boys, and the easiest way for a man to get on her good side was to be a gentlemen, but most of the boys were not. They were not exactly obnoxious....but she just was not in the mood to flirt lately. Not that she had ever really been a ‘vixen’ or anything of the sort, but she certainly used to be a little more playful than she was now. Perhaps it was the stolen queen egg....but it was more likely G’del.

It was almost as if the Wingleader had been avoiding her on purpose recently, and the girl could not figure out why. It was slightly depressing, really, and the fact that most of her closest friends were not around anymore did not help matters. Panthea had more chores than other candidate she knew, and Z’fan and Toya had Impressed and become weyrlings. She hardly ever saw either one. Rael sighed. Why was it that every time she got close to someone in her life, it seemed that fate was determined to tear them apart?

The gold hopeful was suddenly greeted by a small burst of cold air and excited chattering as Tydus appeared before her, his eyes whirling quickly. Raelwyn had left him asleep on her pillow before strolling out to the bowl, but he was obviously not satisfied with sleeping if she was going to be out and about. Grinning, the girl ran a hand down the firelizard’s back as he settled on his customary perch on her shoulder, twining his tail through her hair and snuggling into the curve of her neck. Walking idly alongside the edge of the lake, she suddenly noticed one of the great queens being bathed, and instantly recognized that pale, silvery hide.

“That’s Sharieth.” She said softly, and Ty peeped curiously. The girl was completely awed by the gold, like she always was around the breath-taking queens, and noticed her rider scrubbing her with a brush. The candidate looked about and noticed that she was alone surprisingly, so ventured closer. Her small bronze suddenly came alert as she did, but settled down when he saw it was only a female she was approaching. “Good eve, Weyrwoman Ruet. I am Raelwyn, a gold hopeful. Would you like some help, if your Sharieth would allow it?” She had plenty of experience with dragons, so was an expert at bathing and oiling.

[hrsegrl]

The Gold dragon was thoroughly enjoying herself. Ruet was pretty much soaked and for a while the two were acting like normal people. The Junior Weyrwoman was all smiles and laughter at the antics of the Queen, who seemed to be acting as silly as a new Weyrling. "Darling you mustn't do that you'll get some in your eyes. Remember that it stings..." Rue said in a motherly way.

It was after that incident that a voice seemed to waft over to her. A young woman was standing not far from them. Her smile faded back to her serious face. She couldn't act as she was with another person there. Ruet was much too private a person for that. "Raelwyn, you said?" She pondered the name a moment as if getting a feel for it. Taking more sweet sand she scrubbed Sharieth's neck down. "If you know how you may help. I'm afaid I just don't have the time to help teach someoen today."

Ruet was not lying when she said she had no time after that. She had her dragonhealing lessons and then it was her daily meeting with Lyrai, dinner and then finally some time to herself before K'leren would walk into the weyr. More sweetly she added, "I didn't intend that to be rude, dear. I just have a lot on my plate today. If you do know how to wash then it will be a great help."

[FireThorne]

Raelwyn smiled in reply to the goldrider, slowly wading into the lake. Her light skirt and shirt immediately gathered cold water, but at least the red fabric did not betray it’s wearer as white would. She had noticed the light air about the woman had changed when she saw the candidate on the shore, and wondered why her manner had changed. The water was to her midriff when she reached the queen. The girl took some sweetsand and smiled when Ruet spoke again.

“I understand, of course, Weyrwoman. I am sure you and your fellow goldriders have much to take care of.” Wetting the sand, the girl applied it to the other side of the great queen’s neck and scrubbed with vigor and practiced ease. “I was weyrbred, so I have oiled and bathed plenty of dragons. Mostly my brother’s blue.” Rael certainly had bathed a good number of dragons in her time, including her father’s brown and even one of his wingmate’s bronzes. She had a deft hand when it came to working with the dragons, and had been told she was a most excellent eyeridge scratcher. She grinned. Ulrith had often expressed that to her dear brother.

“Oh, my duty to your Sharieth, by the way Weyrwoman. She looks beautiful.” Raelwyn loved dragons, and always had since her birth, but there was something so majestic about golds and bronzes that had always captured her. The lovely queen shone with a healthy radiance that was a testament to Ruet’s care of her, and the candidate’s desire to Impress was only kindled all the more. The silvery gold hide she scrubbed was soft and warm, and Rael dearly wished for a dragon of her own. Perhaps the goldrider would be kind enough to impart some knowledge to her.

[hrsegrl]

Ruet smiled as the girl answered favorably. "No doubt. You are lucky to be Weyrbred. It gives you quite the advantage when it comes time to impress." She remembered when she had impressed, scared out of her mind at first. Ruet didn't much care for crowds. So she had stood on the sands, waiting. Everyone was suprised when not one but two dragons came out of the Gold egg that day. Lyrai impressed to Zhariath quickly. While Sharieth was having quite a lot of trouble moving around. She was a lot clumsier than her sister. Ruet recalled feeling pity for the dragonet but then she also felt anger. For Rue to be angered was very hard but the other stupid girls were getting in the poor Gold's way and she had a hard enough time moving at all. Luckily, Sharieth knew long before she reached Ruet who she wanted.

"You are at an advantage to have a family of dragonriders. I wasn't at all prepared to face the Hatching sands or a dragonet when I came to Ponaa Weyr." She scrubbed another area that Ruet deemed to be a little more dirty. "Weyrwomen are always busy. That is the way it is. Running a Weyr is more difficult than it appears. Little girls may dream of riding Gold dragons but I doubt they envision all the work that comes with having one." Ruet had been born to hard work and wasn't at all afraid of it. In fact she liked being busy and getting things done.

"She is doing well." Rue smiled at her Gold dragon with a sense of pride. "There is nothing more important to her than having a great clutch and I must say that was her best yet. I suspect Sharieth will be doing very well for some time. Even with her Golden daughter at another Weyr." Tawereth is going to be a Senior Queen. I am very happy.Sharieth added to her rider smugly. Of course she was happy. It made Ruet wonder if Ponaa would have any sway over Ista in the turns to come. She would figure it out. Her sharp mind was rather good with strategy. Threadfall was not her arena but she was not bad with politics. Her true talent was healing of course but even so she was always learning.

Raelwyn is a Gold Candidate... Sharieth added informatively. Ahh so that explained her enthusiasm at seeing Sharieth. "Raelwyn is it? I hear you are looking to impress a Gold yourself." She wondered if the girl knew what she was getting herself into.

[FireThorne]

Raelwyn smiled a little in reply to the goldrider, her green eyes focused upon Sharieth’s hide as she scrubbed expertly at the suede neck. Though the bronze she had once bathed had been a massive dragon, his size utterly dwarfing her brother’s sweet blue, he was nothing compared to the queen before her. The dragon towered. Concentrating on rubbing the sand thoroughly against the gold and taking care of all the itches or dry hide she might have, the candidate thought about her answer for a moment. “I am glad to have been weyrbred; it gave me the chance to be raised around dragons. Although, it will make it all the more bitter if I do not Impress.” The girl knew all too well how terrible it felt to walk away from the sands alone, and the pain did not lessen with more blows. On the contrary-it only grew.

When Ruet spoke again, this time of how busy she and her fellow riders were, the Fort-born felt an amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I am actually a bit informed on the life a goldrider faces, though I am sure I do not fully understand everything you must endure.” She said softly, trying her best not to disturb Tydus. The little bronze had fallen asleep on her shoulder while she scrubbed. Her mind went unerringly to the hatchings she had stood at, and the gold hopeful tried to imagine giving up the life she had always strove for in answer to the daunting call of a Weyrwoman. She could not imagine herself giving up, no matter what she would face. Rael was never one to back down.

“Oh, yes, Weyrwoman.” The girl replied, her gaze inspecting the areas she had washed so far critically. She did not want to do a poor job on the lovely gold. Raelwyn brought her gaze back up to glance at Ruet breifly, then once more focused her attention on Sharieth. “I did not choose this path, my lady, but I find I am suited to it. More is expected from me, of course, and I fully understand that my life will only become more difficult, but....” A sudden willfullness strengthened her voice, though the candidate did not sound disrespectful to the Weyrwoman. She merely sounded determined. “I was chosen to stand for gold, my lady, and it is a privilege I hope to continue to be worthy of. I know there will be sacrifices, and I am willing to make them. I want to be strong for my weyr.” Raelwyn replied, her voice soft but sure. Considering for a moment, the candidate paused, then turned to Ruet. “Would you perhaps tell me what it is like to ride gold, Weyrwoman?” She asked, hopeful.

[hrsegrl]

Ruet listened as she generally did when someone had something important to say. Of all people at the Weyr, Rue knew when to be quiet. She was often too quiet for most people. It made them wonder what she was thinking but at this point she was merely getting an idea for who this Raelwyn was. She didn't choose who rode Gold, the dragons did, so Ruet could really say nothing to the girl's small speech. She simply nodded and continued to scrub Sharieth. Her side was almost finished, having started before the Candidate had arrived to help.

"I see." She mused softly. Ruet liked young people, she was one herself. They had a lot of passion and ideals but some of those she feared would be easily crushed, even in a girl with as much willfulness as Raelwyn. No one could really know what lay ahead and it seemed to her that the younger woman had no concept of the idea that she might not impress. What worried Ruet more was what the girl would do if that were to happen. Golds were rare even if Ponaa Queens seemed to reproduce them more readily than the rest of Pern. Not that the girl could not impress, of course she could, the point was what could she do if she didn't. She was much to strong willed to become a simple drudge.

Ruet finished Sharieth's side and went on to her face which she used a gentler scrub brush on. It was no mean feat to make sure the Queen didn't get sweet sand in her eyes, Sharieth could be fidgety when it came to bath time. "We're almost done. Keep your head still." She said to Sharieth again in a motherly tone, something she had learned from her own parents.

[FireThorne]

Raelwyn was beginning to get the suspicion that Ruet was the quiet type, or that perhaps she liked to listen more than she liked to talk. Or maybe the candidate was bothering her. Either way, the girl turned her attention back on the golden hide before her, mulling over some of the things the queenrider had said. While it was true that nearly all girls had the dream to Impress a gold, for Rael it was more than that. Though she would never admit it, part of her desired a queen dragon because she wanted to prove to herself that she was as willful and determined as she fancied herself to be.

If she Impressed green....well, naturally she would love her dear dragon deeply, and it was a fine honor in itself to even be a rider, but it took an iron will and a stubborn heart to be a Weyrwoman. Of course, beyond even that as well, the candidate wanted to protect Pern with all her soul, and even deeper still loved dragons with all she had in her. From her brother’s sweet blue to I’slen’s bronze Weseaneth, she would do anything for the winged ones.

After the rider switched to a softer brush and started working on the dragon’s face, Rael scrubbed down the queen’s side, careful to do a handsome job. She wanted dearly to ask the goldrider a rather selfish question, but almost feared her answer. Of course, the worst she could do is say no, and the girl had never been one to back down. She carefully moved her shoulder so Tydus would not be jarred while she scrubbed. “My lady Weyrwoman,” The girl asked, frowning a bit, “I hope I am not overstepping any bounds, but have you heard any news of the stolen gold egg? It has bothered me since the incident occured....of course, if I am not supposed to know, I understand.” Weyrs had secrets too. Actually....they had as many as the Holds, as Raelwyn well knew. She had lived in one all her life.

[hrsegrl]

Ruet stopped scrubbing for a moment and looked at the Candidate straight on. "The Weyr would hardly keep that a secret for long. You do not overstep your bounds. The Gold egg and the few others that were taken hatched healthily on Ista Weyr's sands. Tawereth impessed to a young woman by the name of Ariselen. She was a transfer from Fort. Apparently she is our very own Weyrlingmaster I'slen's sister. He now has two Goldriding sisters." Something told Ruet that it wasn't something he wanted for his younger sister.

"Tawereth looks a lot like her mother." Ruet added, knowing Sharieth was prone to jealousy. There was nothing a Gold dragon could be more proud of than to lay and hatch a healthy Gold egg. Even if the Gold was now in another Weyr, she was going to be Senior Queen. That sort of prestige didn't really enter the dragons mind. Instead Sharieth had moved passed the egg thievery. No eggs on the sands to worry about. It made both feel a slight bit relieved.