brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Nov 28, 2006 19:52:33 GMT -5
Panthea had been doing some chores for the Headwoman. Apparently she had talked back to the woman. Yeah, right! The girl had mumbled under her own breath, true enough, but it wasn't what the Headwoman thought. Her protesting this, got her into more trouble. There was a warm hearth not too far away, and sitting there was an egg. She had nearly forgotten about it, actually. It was a very good sized firelizard egg that J'tan brought her to cheer her up. It was a brownish-yellow color with flecks of goldenrod. While she liked the goldenrod color very much, the other color was kinda muddy. She suspected, even fancied, a gold queen was in there. It had to be, no other egg she had seen was so dark a yellow. This was definatly no ordinary egg.
The candidate had kept the egg hidden from everyone else. J'tan must have gone through a lot of trouble to get this to her. A LOT. And told her to keep it hidden so it wouldn't be stolen by a jealous roommate. She had taken his advice, keeping the egg by a hearth almost constantly, and if she couldn't she kept the egg against her in a padded pouch. Her careful actions might have been seen as suspicious by others, and Panthea wondered how long she could keep up the charade. No doubt, the Headwoman would say she stole the egg. Or some one else would say that. Once bonded to the creature, no one could stop them.
Panthea stopped her stitching of a man's pants to eat a bit of her supper. It was herd beast stew, and pretty good except that she didn't have much of an appetite today. She returned to her work and started to sing softly to herself while doing it.
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Post by jennah on Dec 3, 2006 0:22:33 GMT -5
Jennah was in a bad mood. While most of his moods were restricted in the category of “bad” today it was especially so. He had met with the headwoman earlier that week (he didn’t understand how she expected him to be able to do the things he had to do with his herbal stores in the pathetic state they were in). He knew needs to the entire Weyr needed to be addressed and analyzed before supplies were procured, he had dealt with said shortages of supplies for years. The fact that he had come to expect them didn’t improve his mood one mote.
After a brief “debate” (he didn’t like to call it a fight, it was a mature exchange of opinions between two adults) with the headwoman, he called her a few things which will not be repeated here, and then threw a pair of pants at her head. They needed to be mended (no, he didn’t know how they got torn. They just did). A week had passed. His stores were still in a deplorable state…and his pants had not been returned to him.
A man like Jennah had more important things to do then concern himself with clothing. His typical habit was to wear an article of clothing until people started to complain that he smelled like rotting meat, because of that he owned three, maybe four pairs of pants. When one owned three, maybe four pairs of pants the absence of one of these pairs was a big deal. Now, Jennah really had better things to do then search the lower caverns (with a lot of stomping and slamming of doors) for a pair of pants. However, one of the perks of being the Weyr Healer (he liked the little “the” in front of is title) was that he was afforded such whims.
After about a half an hour of searching, be began to grow tired of his game. There were only so many times he could burst into somebody’s quarters (with Kovah on his shoulder, flaring her wings dramatically every time he entered a new room) before getting bored of it. That was of course until the pace of the game changed. He flung open the door…looked around…bellowed, “HAVE YOU SEEN THE HEADWOMAN OR MY PANTS!?”
He was about to storm out, when Kovah launched herself from his shoulder and spiraled wildy about the room before protectively landing on the pair of pants in the young girls lap, she looked indolently up at her (hissing softly) before Jennah called her back, he cleared his throat and asked…rudely, “Those are my pants…why have you not finished. I sent these down here for mending a week ago!”
Kovah angrily peeped in echo of her master’s words.
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brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Dec 3, 2006 14:58:23 GMT -5
Panthea's head jerked up. This man was rather loud. She did not appreciate being screamed at, and she involuntarily covered her ears. When he finished speaking, demanding about her tardiness with the pants she dropped her hands and let her eyes flash angerly. The man was a healer. She hated healers for not being able to save her mother those few turns ago. This was despite the fact that healing was her mother's forte, even going so far as being an unofficial dragon healer. This man stood for all healers, but she knew enough not to run her mouth off too much. She said with sharp, but not loud, tongue, "Why sir, I have not seen the Headwoman for quite some time myself. And had I known these were your pants I might have threw them to the bottom of my pile." She smiled softly, she had been sarcastic, but the Weyrhealer was out of hand. Sure Panthea was at the bottom of the barrel right now, but there was no reason to shout. "I only got these pants this morning along with a bunch of unfinished laundry. I am sorry that I value craftsmanship and quality over time constraints. I'll be finished shortly." She had said this more sincerely.
She reguarded the little lizard fondly, how she wished she rode dragon. Of course she would aim for gold, but just to have the chance her mother had would all worth while. "Fiesty little thing, isn't she? Absolutly beautiful though. Loyal too."
It was then that she had seen, through the corners of her eye, what she thought was her egg rocking ever so slowly.
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Post by jennah on Dec 3, 2006 17:46:59 GMT -5
Jennah’s eyes were very skilled when it came to noticing small movements in the corner of his vision. He didn’t want to be so obvious as to stare at what he thought was an egg cracking in the corner, but he did make a note of it. He had developed a strange sort of smile. It was the sort of look a starving canine would give to a small animal before he ripped it apart: ravenously hungry. Candidates made him edgier than any other member of the Weyr, the knowledge of what they had the potential to do (and what he would nevereverever be able to do again, made his stomach churn and burn). Showing too much tooth to be considered friendly, he could’ve easily leapt upon her insult and give her the fight that she was looking for, but that wasn’t his style, instead he snarked, “Figures as much. That woman is completely incompetent. When I find her I’ll….”
He stopped and put his hands sharply at his hips. This girl was obviously the pride and bane of the headwoman’s crop of minions. He had enough experience with adolescence to know that should would either mature into an assertive and capable leader, or would sour into something completely undesirable. He had refused many girls into his service based on this personality trait. Still, her responses to his intrusion had been suitable. She passed the test.
Kovah could sense the flattery and sat serenely on Jennah’s shoulders (she wasn’t one who could be won over by nice words alone, but she wasn’t above stretching her wings to show off how finely colored they were). She peeped and begged for Jennah to itch her eyeridge, he said coolly, “I’ve been her master for nearly thirty years. I’d like to think she was loyal to me.”
Jennah had seen her expression several times before in a candidate, the longing for a dragon, the want for a perfect friend…he found that his eyebrow was twitching. He wanted. He wanted her back. He couldn’t. She was gone. Gone. Gone…gone…Kovah, who was familiar with the holes in her feedmaster’s head bit him on the ear. Not enough to draw blood but enough to pull him out of the place he was going (and to prevent him from falling to his knees screeching “Deleriath!Oh Deleriath!”).
He took this as an opportunity to catch a glance around. Yes, there was an egg on the hearth. His smile grew ravenous. This made things much more interesting. Firelizard eggs were things that were hard to come by (legally that is) and he was pretty sure that candidates were not permitted to bond with new firelizards (at least that was the case when he was younger). He stared into her and said dully, “I was still a child. Too young to stand when I impressed her. You’ll need to turn that every few hours. The embryo can stick to the shell and die if you don’t.”
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brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Dec 4, 2006 0:55:38 GMT -5
"Yes, after that many turns I would suspect so. May I be so lucky." She turned her attentions on the egg for a second. Would he dare try to take her? Would this man want to bond with the hatchling that was rightly hers? He wouldn't have the gall. She watched him carefully, sensing at his momentary silence that he had other things on his mind. Or perhaps she was just assuming things. The egg was rocking more now than ever, and she was sure her time to bond with it had come. The healer spoke again, this time about the egg. Yes, there was no doubt he would have noticed it, being familiar with eggs and being able to see the rather obvious one on the hearth. She swallowed carefully and returned his gaze evenly, she said softly, a small smile on her lips, "Why yes sir, I know, I am not a common drudge. I have a mind and I pride myself on using it. I have kept it for a while now, and have taken great care with it, I believe. But my many thanks for you taking concern."
There was no doubt that the egg was ready to hatch now, and Panthea watched it, unable to move. She did manage to clutch the bowl her herdbeast stew was in. She hadn't finished her supper so there was some meager chunks left. She said, with out looking to Jennah, keeping her eyes on the egg, "If you'll excuse me, milord."
After a moment she stood from her chair, dropping the pants and holding with both hands her bowl of gravy, meat and vegitables. He didn't have to leave, but until the egg hatched she couldn't bring herself to speak.
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Post by jennah on Dec 4, 2006 15:24:04 GMT -5
Jennah laughed coldly at her question. It had been a polite, rhetorical question: not an insult to his character, but he couldn’t help but feel her words inch under his skin like a splinter of glass. If she was as ‘lucky’ as he was, she would’ve been better off dying before her mother bore her. He tried to remind himself that she had know what of knowing what his ‘luck’ had entailed…she didn’t know... He shook his head as if to dislodge an insect that had flown into his head and mumbled, “Stupid girl.”
He smiled as he said the words, and didn’t say them with any malice. It was as if he was simply stating a fact. She had a good mind and knew how to use it. She prided herself for using it. Jennah felt his world began to spiral. The edges of what was delirium and what was reality began to pulse and blur. He could feel the words coming out of his mouth before he had any chance to control them, “If you used your mind you would run from this place. They will break you you know. You’ll never be whole again. You’ll always be lonely and waiting. Wanting. No. Yes. You will. Dear Faranth: I’ve forgotten myself. I’m mad they say, for being as sane as I am.”
He pulled himself back into character, and fixed his face in a dark grimace. He was releaved to see that her attention had been focused largely on the quaking egg. He cursed himself for not realizing what potential it held earlier. He wouldn’t dream of taking it from her to impress the creature himself (Kovah was more than enough firelizard for him)…but the idea of holding that threat above her head…perhaps she could convince the headwoman to replenish his stores. It didn’t look like he would have the time to do something like that. The beast looked like it was on its way out. No such luck.
Still, he kept the original purpose of their meeting in his mind. He wanted to get his pants mended (in some ways he needed to get his pants mended: he had been wearing the pair he was currently wearing for several days: they were bespeckled with Faranth knew what and were more than a little zesty). He dryly reminded her (although he knew women well enough to know that they would drop everything—he noted that his pants had been wantonly cast aside—for a birth), “A fair warning. I’m not leaving until my pants are fixed. I’ve been told I make very poor company.”
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brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Dec 4, 2006 19:34:17 GMT -5
Panthea managed to laugh, ready with her left over stew, at his last comment, "Yes, I suppose you are quite a stubborn man, but then again, I can be stubborn too, kind sir." While she said this very good naturedly, she was of course a bit sarcastic with the last bit. She had found him less than nice. But perhaps today was a bad day for the man. She had better watch herself around this man, he was higher ranked than her. She was pretty sure her firelizard egg was more important than this man's pants.
Panthea found herself mulling over his first brash words. Run from the Weyr? Never. She could endure pain and abadonment. Her father abandoned her. Of course when it happened she still had her mother, but now her mother left her alone. She didn't want to be alone. A dragon would never leave her alone. She tried to not think about loosing her dragon prematurely like her mother. Like this man. Not that Panthea knew this man's history. She never cared for healers because of her mother, Althea's history so she didn't know a thing about the man, not even his name.
If she Impressed, her dragon would be well taken care of it-her young spirit could not be broken by a ill-tempered healer. Panthea looked the man in the eyes, and held her gaze for a moment, she said evenly, "Sir, I am wanting now. I have known pain of loss. I am still willing to take my chance at a dragon."
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Post by jennah on Dec 4, 2006 22:58:56 GMT -5
Jennah held the girl’s gaze evenly. His expression was fathomless, somewhere between raving lunacy, anger and pity. He didn’t know why he was even bothering to talk to her (because he wanted to get his sharding pants back!). His expression didn’t change as he slowly said, “You know nothing of loss.”
Kovah leapt delicately off of her master’s shoulder and circled the room lazily. She was like some bird of prey combing the area. She too had noticed the rocking egg, but she paid no attention to it. Eggs were queenthings. The pair of pants on the floor were her feedmaster’s. She landed briefly and explored the seems. After determining that the pants were not edible, or in any grave danger she grew bored of them and returned to Jennah’s shoulder. She looked around the room once again before popping /between/. She had nothing to do here: terrorizing (“protecting”) the infirmary seemed much more productive then sitting and looking pretty.
Her antics coaxed something like a genuine smile from the healer. It comforted something deep inside of him to know that she would return to him the second he beckoned for her, “That wasn’t a challenge. I was merely stating that my pants are more important than unnecessary fussing over your egg. If it is going to hatch in the next few minutes, go ahead and impress the d**ned thing. Although be warned, Kovah is a rarity among firelizards and a saint among green ones. However, if it isn’t, you’d do best to get back to work.”
He scrutinized her for a few minutes, “Your face looks familiar…”
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brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Dec 5, 2006 16:55:51 GMT -5
Panthea sort of harumphed but took his rebuking in silence. Let the man ramble on at her. She didn't have to heed his words, nor would she be deterred. She lifted her chin a little bit and turned to look the egg, which she thought was cracking now. Yes, a tiny hairline crack. Its hatching! And then when she thought she was in the clear, Jennah spoke again.
"Your face looks familiar..."
She couldn't help but turn to him and answer, "Why, I should hope so, sir. I have only been here for nearly my entire life, and my mother worked with a few healers." Actually, Panthea hadn't been around the infirmary since she was a child, when her mother had been working. Panthea didn't really think that the healer recognised her. The thought that she looked like her mother didn't even cross her mind. By this time there was definatly a crack in the shell.
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Post by jennah on Dec 11, 2006 21:19:08 GMT -5
Jennah developed a slight scowl and nearly thought to call the girl out on her insubordinance. She would make a wonderful goldrider someday. Sourly he stewed upon this. He had lost his only connection to the search long ago, but the parts of her personality that would grant her preference to the Queens reeked beyond those realms only perceivable by the dragons. She was willful, she had no respect for any authority other than her own. Best off, she seemed to be completely impervious to the world outside of her now narrow perception.
Dourly he added, “Perhaps it didn’t occur to you that other people haven’t been here their entire lives. I was trying to make a stab at conversation, but it’s obvious that you are too stuck in on yourself to take such subtle social hints. I’d also like to think that I would remember long-term members of my own staff.”
He noticed the cracks on the egg, and something in his heart told him to be cruel, a cunning smile crossed his face and he cocked his head to the side.
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brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Dec 11, 2006 22:37:10 GMT -5
Panthea sniffed. How dare he insinuate that she was not sensitive enough to realize that. She could be, but this man. . . Err! She bit her lip. Don't talk back. Don't talk back. Don't talk back. . . She told herself. She did not want him to have the upper hand against her. If she talked back she would surely reinforce his ideas that she was a foul tempered, insensitive child. Panthea nodded, "Forgive me for my. . ." insightfulness, she thought would be slight funny, but not at all appropriate. "for my lack of sensitivity. I guess I did not realize your motives. But please, if you wish, continue talking." She had said as sweetly as she could. She smiled and turned to the egg, now starting to form many cracks.
It seemed like forever before the shell actually burst. There were little bits of the shell in her hair and on the floor and in the flames. Panthea had closed her eyes as a reflex and put her hands in front of her face. She heard a soft peep. It was some what of a greeting. Or so it sounded like one. When she slowly opened her eyes and pulled down her hands, she was astonished. Panthea looked at the tiny gold, and smiled. There was never a guarentee that there would be a gold hatchling or that she would Impress it, so a golden firelizard was a great moral booster. She offered the little thing a piece of meat. "Hmm, sweetie? You hungry? Of course you are." Panthea smiled brightly and looked happily at Jennah. "Look at the little wonder!"
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Post by jennah on Dec 11, 2006 23:00:30 GMT -5
Jennah took a certain level of pride in knowing that he was testing the candidate. Oh if she was a member of his staff she would’ve been put through an entirely different reign of terror. Unfortunately she was just outside of his domain. At the Weyrhealer, he had a certain level of push and pull within is own group. Yelling and threatening candidates (at least those not assigned chores in the infirmary) would only make people angry at him. He normally had no problem with people being sore with him, but he needed (wanted!) something from the Weyr (restocking the sharding stocks…and some nice Benden Wine perhaps). He shook his head, “I’m quite finished now.”
He stood and stared at the fire. He tried to break out the sounds of the cracking egg. He stared into the fire with still and glassy eyes, trying to figure out why in the name of the red star he was still standing in the room. He had nothing. Nothing to think about, nothing to fill his mind, save the sound of breaking eggs. It was hot the day that she came into the world. It was always hot on the hatching grounds, but it was so much worse when you were actually standing on the sands. The cracks, the delicate hairline cracks that foreshadowed her delicate glassblown body. She slipped so daintily from her egg and disdainfully took a look around. Then eye met eye and he knew that instant that he would never be alone.
He realized that he was staring unabashedly at the girl and her new flit. He would never be alone. He would never be alone (she had left him all alone). He smiled clandestinely and shook his head sadly, “Oh why…can’t I…be you?”
She had hope. She had chances. Nobody had ever made a promise to her comparable to the promise that was made that day, Hello J’nah. I’m Deleriath. Let’s remove ourselves from the company of these dimglows.
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brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Dec 11, 2006 23:17:45 GMT -5
Panthea looked at Jennah with deep concern, he looked like he was far away. The firelizard demanded her attentions and she had to feed the gold. "Aw, little lovie." She pet the newly hatched lizard and the queen crooned with contentment. While she dried herself by the fire, Panthea left the tiny lizard to walk up to Jennah. She swallowed and said softly to him, "Oh, sir, are you okay?"
It wouldn't do for the Weyrhealer to fall ill. Even if she wasn't fond of weyrhealers in the first place. Maybe he wasn't feeling well, maybe-
“Oh why…can’t I…be you?”
"What?" Did he say that? Could a man ever be jealous of her? She snuffed the impulse to touch his shoulder. Panthea had a feeling he wasn't the kind of man that would appreciate that. He might get defensive and push her away. She bit her lip. He must just be thinking. Panthea had made a mistake, the healer was fine and she just approached him. The golden flit flew to Panthea's shoulder and nuzzled her jaw with affection.
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Post by jennah on Dec 12, 2006 22:38:40 GMT -5
Jennah was indeed someplace far away. He was lost on the sands of a hatching that had occurred years ago. The only real tangible memory he had of the day was the pulsing silence inside of his head. He looked at Panthea as if he was looking through her, then his eyes slowly came into focus and were filled with the cynicism his present held. He cocked his eyebrows at her question. For a few seconds he considered asking her if he looked like he was o-fardling-kay. That would tell her too much. He just let a weak chuckle escape from his throat.
He was partially laughing at himself. He had been stupid to even go out today. He held a special loathing in his heart for restdays. They insisted that he take one at least once a month, preferably once a sevenday (fat chance) they didn’t understand that he didn’t want to have any free time. He should’ve done what he usually did when he was faced with the dilemma of unscheduled time. He should’ve locked himself in his room and drink himself to oblivion. No, instead he chose to wander out and make an idiot of himself. He vaguely wished that he owned more pairs of pants.
He shook his head as if shaking a bad dream, and his face found its familiar furrows, “Your flying eggsack will need a name.”
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brimstone81
Stalker of Bubbly Pies
The Sweetheart
I dream in high definition
Posts: 338
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Post by brimstone81 on Dec 12, 2006 23:15:12 GMT -5
Panthea smiled at him most graciously. So Jennah was fine. Good, because Panthea knew very basic healing and the healer seemed back to normal. Panthea softly rubbed her firelizard's eyeridges, and looked thoughtfully in those content eyes. . . She looked back up at the healer for a moment and spoke with no hint of sarcasm or banter, "I see that you are right. What would you suggest?"
She wouldn't mind knowing, since even while she had thought about it, Panthea wasn't sure what exactly to name the lizard. Frankly she had hoped it would come to her. Well maybe it would- in the form of a healer. Now she smiled, "I don't mind hearing from you. Or would you rather I called her Jen?" Panthea wasn't sure if she hoped he took her seriously or if he got all huffy and come back at her with a smart remark.
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