Moving In [open to any/all Candidates]

The decision to move into the Candidate Barracks had been her mother's. It was a way of pushing Nell off the Hatching Sands by pushing her onto them, so to speak. The woman had become stronger the last few months and insisted she could take care of herself--and if she couldn't, well, Nell was only a few paces away, wasn't she?

And so Nell stood with a sack of her worldy items, looking at the shell of her new sleeping area. With a sigh she tossed the sack on her cot and began pulling the items out--mostly her extra skirts and tunics; she didn't see the practicality of much else.

For Nell, the deision to move had been more symbolic than anything else. After she'd come of age to stand, her parents had urged her to wait a few more years before trying to Impress. A few years had come and gone, and Nell hesitated every time a Hatching was imminent, unsure of herself and wary of the disappointment that would come if she was left standing. Yet her dream was to become a dragonrider, and she knew that disappointment was an inevitable part of the game. Particularly for girls.

Now that the latest Hatching was over, Nell would have a little time to talk herself into Standing, and if she declared her intention by moving into the Candidate Barracks, she wouldn't be  able to back down this time. The others would think she was a coward--or worse, too lazy and irresponsible to show up on time!

Besides, her mother said she could do with some time to rest and relax with people in the same stage of life as she was. Well, Nell wasn't certain about that. She knew most--if not all--of the Candidates by face already, and had run into them in the kitchens or during chores. She didn't particularly like many of them--most didn't even want to be here, and she couldn't wrap her head around being given a chance to ride a dragon and not wanting to. Nevertheless, it couldn't hurt to get to know everyone a little better, as long as they were quiet and respectful enough to--

And just as Nell was folding up one of her extra skirts, a disturbance just out of her sight caused her to jump. Scowling, she whirled and peered into the hallway. "What is going on out here?"

The sight in the hall was something close to a disaster.  Broken bits of pottery told a story of a once-whole pitcher that had shattered upon the stone floor.  The sticky remainents of redjuice not only covered the shards, but the floor, walls and clothes of the slightly smaller boy who now stood frowning at his hands.  To finish up the tale, the sound of laughter was echoing down the hallway with quickly fading footsteps.

Bordtai sighed as he realized his pants and front of his shirt were now soaked after the pitcher had been knocked out of his hands.  It was going to be a sticky mess to clean up.  If that wasn’t bad enough he recognized the voice of the weyr’s bossiest brats – just behind the insufferable Indivara herself.  Lifting up his eyes to meet Nellaris’ green ones, he made a bit of a face at the brat who was four turns his elder.

“Noth’n.  I’ve got it.”  He mumbled a bit ruder than he had meant to, but the scowl on her face wasn’t exactly well received.  Kneeling down right into the puddle since his pants were already soaked with redfruit juice, he began to gather up the shards the pitcher had exploded into.

Hope you don’t mind me jumping in.  Bordtai’s a little guy and I was planning on him being nicer, but he seems to have gotten a bit grumpy since the last hatching.  I apologize in advance.  Don’t worry, he’s still a pushover and everyone still believes him to be a dimglow since he can’t manage to master even basic letters.

With her chores done for the day, Arddra wanted to get back to her room as soon as she could. It wasn't because she wanted to hide away but she had a load of mending to finish.

As she wasn't so lucky to be fully trained in a particular craft Arddra took to mending clothing of various folks who lived in the area. She usually offered to help the newer Weyrlings, all too young to be a real threat to her and with such young dragons, they weren't likely to harm her either.

It wasn't much but it certainly ensured she was able to get the few things she needed which weren't provided normally, like food. Other women used other ways to get what they wanted but she was not that type of woman. Not to mention being kidnapped guarenteed her husband died of illness since she failed to return with the Healer. Three years ago that happened and she didn't date anybody since, other than that one time she was caught by a Flightlust mad dragonrider.

An unexpected noise distracted her from her thoughts just as she was about to enter her room. It was then she noticed the young Bordtai staring down at a shattered pitcher he must have dropped. As she was just at her door, Arddra quickly ducked into her room and grabbed rags and a waste bucket. She could hear somebody speaking from the room next door,  a room that had been empty up to now.

"Let me give you a hand, Bordtai," Arddra said, crouching down to help mop up the spill, setting the waste basket next to the young teen. He was just old enough to look more like a young man and not an age that reminded her on how she failed to produce a child after over 2 years of marriage.

Glancing up towards the open door she saw who the new occupant was. She had seen the younger woman around and believed her name was Nellaris.

"Hello, I see you just moved in." Arddra nodded to the other woman. "Welcome to the Barracks."

I was working on a reply to this too...too many realworld distractions came up so Bordtai beat me too it. I hope you don't mind a second entrance. I think Nell and Arddra would get along, they both have some common personality traits.

Nell took in the broken pottery, the juice that had splattered everywhere, and finally the young boy covered in the mess. She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms--that mess could very well be leaking into her room, and then she'd be the one who had to clean it up! It nearly looked like someone had been murdered.

She frowned at the boy; she could place the boy's face, even if she couldn't quite remember his name. He didn't exactly have a reputation for being the smartest herdbeast in the field, but she did remember seeing him working at his chores every now and then and couldn't remember having to tell him off for anything particularly heinous before. Even so...

"I hope that was an accident and not some prank. Look at the mess you've made!"

Nell opened her mouth to say more, but closed it again as they were approached by another Candidate. Her arms fell to her side. Instead of wasting time chastising the boy, she'd produced rags and a bucket--point taken. Nell sighed and tossed the skirt she was still holding back on to her bed. If she didn't help she couldn't be certain that the job would be done well enough, and she was the one who would be having to walk out into the sticky mess outside her door every morning.

She knelt down beside the puddle--she didn't like the thought of getting stains on her clothes--and picked up one of the cloths to begin soaking up the mess.

"There's another piece of broken pottery there," she said, gesturing to an additional piece which Bordtai was likely to have found eventually anyway. "Don't leave any pieces lying around--someone might step on one."

Laying the cloth down, she patted it down to make sure it absorbed as much of the liquid as it could. Then she glanced at the older Candidate. "Thanks for the welcome. I've just moved in today--I thought I should move in if I'm to stand for the next clutch." Her frown deepened; she was still unsure of her choice to stand, even if it was a necessary part of becoming a dragonrider. She glanced at Bordtai and shrugged. "Well. Thank you for the rags. I think I have some in my pack as well if we need more. Best get this mess cleaned up before it gets too sticky."

“No prank towards you, Nellaris.”  He muttered, keeping his face down and avoiding her look.  It had been a prank of sorts – but it had been a prank on Bordtai when the other brat had run past him and knocked the pitcher out of his hands.  Bordtai had fumbled with it trying unsuccessfully to catch it.  So he wasn’t exactly lying, it had been an accident, even if the accident had a cause.

Hands full of pottery shards, the smaller boy had nearly jumped out of his skin when a second voice joined in.  Looking up, he recognized Arddra from candidate classes as well.  She was older still, but had never caused him harm.  As both women in turn began to give him a hand with the mess, he felt his cheeks warming as he dumped the shards into the offered bucket and quickly picked up the ones he had missed, including the one Nell pointed out.

“Yes ma’am.”  He said in response to Nellaris as he dumped more shards into the bucket.  Finding at least the majority of the shards picked up (it was always possible he missed one or two still), he picked up the bucket and pointed a thumb down the hall.

“I’ll get some soap and water… So it doesn’t stick…”  he muttered quickly.  He wasn’t use to others helping him clean up the mess, but the girl had a point.  It would be sticky if it wasn’t cleaned up properly and if Bordtai had learned anything in the crèche it was that the womenfolk didn’t like messes.  Or sticky things.  And they defiantly didn’t like messy, sticky things.

And Bordtai didn’t like angry womenfolk.

Arddra was pleased Nellaris wasn't going to start yelling at Bordtai as she was certain the young man had not intentionally dropped a pitcher onto the floor. She was sure she heard some laughter and the sound of footsteps receding just seconds after she had heard the crash. Unfortunately she had only saw Bordtai staring down at the spelled juice.


"I think we have enough rags for now, it was only a single pitcher." Arddra observed as she glanced at what was left to mop up and the amount of clean rags left. She was just about to suggest putting the now juice soaked rags into the bucket and getting them rinsed off and some water to clean off the stickiness when Bordtai rose up to do just that.

"Very good idea Bordtai, between the three of us this mess will be cleaned up in no time." Arddra nodded in agreement to his idea. Once the boy left to fetch water and soap she turned back to the younger girl.

"It is fortunate we both were here to make sure it was cleaned up right away, this juice would stain if left to sit for a long time." Arddra was aware Nellaris was the type of girl who didn't shirk her chores and was quite organized and liked things getting done. At times she felt she was a bit too fussy but instead of it being an irritation to Arddra she found it made her wnat to be better at whatever task Nell was dissatisfied with. Fortunately it was rarely anything Arddra was doing, unless it was a task she never did before. At least nothing ever came back to Arddra's ears regarding it, mostly she just observed this trend in Nell over the last while.

Nellaris frowned at Bordtai. "It was a prank for someone, then? That isn't very nice, Bordtai. Pranks are a childish nuisance and you shouldn't participate in them. I hope to see better behavior in the future." She sniffed, as though her words settled the matter, and pressed down on the still-soaking rags in front of her once more, for all the good it did.

For all she chastised, Nell was suitably impressed with the thought both Bordtai and Arddra put into the cleaning up process, and she nodded her approval as Bordtai fetched soap and water.

"Warm water might be best, if you can find it," Nellaris instructed. "That way the stick won't set in quite as much."

Her instructions given--whether they were heeded or not--she glanced over at Arddra. "Yes, well, perhaps it isn't best for him to get used to the idea that people will help clean up all his messes. There's no room for pranks or mistakes in dragonriding, that's for certain. You have to do all the cleaning up by yourself then, so he'd best prepare for it now. As had we all. That's why dragonriders don't make mistakes."

"I don't think Bordtai was in on that prank, but the victim of it," Arddra observed. She then fell silent as Nellaris went on about dragonriders and their responsibilities. It made sense they would have to do far more cleaning and care, not just themselves but their dragons. It was a huge responsibility to care for an animal like a dragon. Her last comment caused Arddra look up at her and laugh.

"They make mistakes, plenty of them, Nellaris." Arddra bit back on the rest of the rant she wanted to give, about how they are cruel, kidnappers and rapists with little regard about the lives of others. But letting out all her inner pain and hatred towards the majority of dragonriders, would just alienate a potential friend. Letting out a slow breath she pushed away her rancor. "They are far from perfect, just like anybody else."

Between Arddra and Nellaris, Bordtai was completely confused about the whole ordeal.  He had one woman giving him praise for cleaning up the mess while the other woman chaste him for creating it.  While both made sense from their own point of view, Bordtai still wasn’t at all confident about the sudden attention he’d earned himself from not one womanfolk, but two of them.  So when he heard instructions about the water being warm, Bordtai took a few minutes longer to make sure he followed them.

Dumping the shards into a trash, he rinsed out the bucket before putting sweetsand in the bottom and filling it halfway with steaming hot water.  Okay, so it was a bit past the warm mark – but he wasn’t about to take the chance that it would get cool on the way back and he’d get told off all over again.  Picking the bucket up once more, he carried it with both hands back to make sure he didn’t slop the soapy water everywhere and have a larger mess to clean.

He’d missed the majority of the conversation happening between the women but caught the last part about dragonriders not making mistakes.  He chewed his lower lip as he took one of the clothes and knelt right down in the mess again, trying to use the soapy water to scrub up the worst of it.  Despite as hard as he tried, however, he couldn’t help but speak up to the debate currently happening

“Dragonriders do make mistakes… But bad things happen when a dragonrider makes a mistake.  Sometimes, people die.”  He said quietly. 

“D’ren made a mistake when he trusted T’shiro and was poisoned for that trust.”  It was a topic that most of the Weyr tended to avoid now that the matter was done and overwith, T’shiro having been executed with a trip between – his bronze dragon following.  “D’ren’s mistake forced S’kef to have T’shiro killed along with his bronze.”

“Nellaris is right, we can’t afford to make mistakes like that if we want to become dragonriders.  But Arddra is right too, despite trying as hard as they can, Dragonriders make mistakes too.”

Nell's cheeks flushed at Arddra's laugh, and she narrowed her eyes at the girl. Nell hated being the victim of someone else's amusement, but she decided that in the end Arddra probably didn't mean to hurt her pride, even if she still stung a little. It was with a bite to her tone that she addressed the two of them.

"If D'ren made mistakes," Nell began, and she would never admit that they were, "then he made a series of mistakes that led to the outing of a traitor. And in my opinion, outing a traitor is something that had to be done. If he was willing to kill D'ren, who knows who else he would have been willing to kill? Who says he would have stopped at the Weyrleader? Then even more life would be lost."

In Nell's opinion, every decision by a leader could be rationalized. She didn't think that leaders could be questions, and every move they made was for a reason.

"Anyway," Nell continued, "Dragons choose their riders for a reason. If a man wasn't going to be a good leader then a bronze wouldn't choose him, and a gold wouldn't choose a bad woman to be her rider either."

She took a clean rag and dipped it in the steaming water--happy that instruction had been followed--and dropped it on the floor to cool for a minute before she began wiping up the stickiness as well.

She didn't sense that it was a dangerous topic--that wasn't Nell's way. She believed she was right and unless she saw proof in action, she wouldn't believe otherwise. Even so, she did steer the topic in a slightly different direction.

"I'm hoping to Impress a gold myself. Not that there's anything wrong with other colours--my father was a bluerider--but there aren't a lot of other opportunities for women. Are you two hoping for any colour in particular, or will any dragon at all do?"

Arddra heard pretty much the same things anybody else who had been here for the last three years. The outing of a Traitor or murder of a revolutionary which lead to a death of a Dragonrider wasn't quite what she meant as a mistake. It was more just proof of the innate violence in many dragonriders.

"Dragons choose their riders yes, but that doesn't mean the rider is 'good' nor incapable of making mistakes or being criminal." She knew D'ren stopped the kidnapping of candidates but if he was such a perfect leader why were there riders disloyal to him in the first place?

"The example of what happened to D'ren that resulted in the death of T'shiro and his dragon just shows how violent and criminal many dragonriders are," Arddra slapped a rag, freshly soaked in the very warm water Bordtai brought, onto the floor and vigorously started scrubbing. Nor did she feel the fact all dragonriders were picked by their dragons meant their riders were instantly perfect and mistake free.

"Gold is the color of dragon I am expecting to Impress myself,' Arddra said after a long silence as she focused on cleaning. In truth she originally didn't want any dragon but to be returned home. Her innate love of animals had overridden her initial fear and she did want to Impress a dragon. She knew in the past greens and even a blue dragons would Impress a girl but it was obvious this was not accepted for the most part. "It is the expected choice for women dragonriders after all. Greens and blues are fighting dragons."

It was Bordtai’s turn to bristle and despite how much Nellaris struck him as a snob he couldn’t help but side with her over the argument of dragonriders at the moment.  Dragon’s chose the riders who would fit them best, yes.  But moreso than he agreed with Nell he found that the biggest reason he felt he should side with her was that the older woman rubbed him completely wrong when she made the statement that riders were criminals.

“Dragonriders are NOT criminals.”  He blurted out, a little surprised in himself for it.  As often as he found himself not agreeing with people, he nearly never spoke up.  It was easier to walk away and make his argument where other’s would comment about how a dimglow knew nothing.  But now?  Right now Arddra was saying that his whole world was evil.  He could name a number of riders that were not criminals or evil or even cruel.

“When thread comes back, Dragonriders will be there to save everyone.  You wait.  I’m going to be a hero.  Everyone I’ll fly with someday.  The whole Weyr.  We’ll be there to save people.  We are not criminals.”

Hearing the topic shift, Bordtai barely followed, still worked up and frustrated over his favorite riders being summed up as the bad guys.  No.  T’shiro was a bad guy.  He use to always think S’kef was too… but after he killed T’shiro to revenge D’ren…  S’kef didn’t seem that bad of a guy.  There hadn’t even been another public whipping in a long time, so S’kef leading the Weyr couldn’t be that bad of a thing!

Bordtai wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about either of these girls becoming gold riders.  Nellaris struck him as another Tsuen in the making – snobbish and wanting her hand over everything.  While Arddra…  She had the wrong viewpoint on everything.  She was just wrong.  Bordtai knew she was from the north, but that was no excuse to be so rude to the heroes of Pern.  She would see.  Bordtai half hoped that she would never impress.  That way she wouldn’t have a dragon to save her and she would have to ask the riders for help.  Teach her to be so rude.

“I would be thankful for any dragon, but I was told I might impress a brown.  They are nearly as strong and large as bronze.  I would be proud to ride a brown dragon.”  He said, wrinkling his nose at Arddra.  “And you should be proud to have the chance to even stand for the dragons.”

I apologize!  I have NEVER seen Bordtai so rude, but gosh Arddra managed to ruffle his feathers.  xD

Even Nell was silenced by Bordtai's outburst, blinking at the boy with some surprise. She hadn't spent a lot of time with him, but she'd always thought of him as a bit quiet, a bit dim, and not really up to much thought or opinion about anything. Hearing him echo her own thoughts made her take a step back and reassess him, and though she'd likely never let him know it, he gained a small glimpse of Nell's respect with his outburst, though she hoped she'd been rather more tactful about voicing the same thing.

"I rather agree with you, Bordtai. I never thought I'd say that," she said, lifting her chin proudly. "I agree--dragonriders aren't criminal, and they will save everyone some day. I hope to be among them, though I suppose as a Goldrider I won't see much action." She wrinkled her nose. "Still, it will be my honor to aid in whatever way I can--even if that means having my dragons make more little dragons for more dragonriders to ride."

She wouldn't think about how those little dragons would be made. She needed to Impress first--if she Impressed--then she would get to that.

"Anyway, a brown would suit you, Bordtai. They're strong and sturdy, as you appear to be." She looked the boy up and down. It was high praise coming from Nell, but she was feeling forgiving after his speech; under normal circumstances she might have suggested a flighty green. She turned to Arddra. "Golds are the best choice for females, of course. They're grand, beautiful dragons. It would be improper to ride a fighting one." She paused, then added, "Sometimes I wonder about it--like I said, my father rode a blue. Blues and greens seem more useful sometimes, but then nothing is more useful than making more dragons, I suppose. It'll be useful when Thread falls. Or do you not think Thread is going to fall?"

Sorry this took a few days! A million excuses, etc. End of the month is always a busy time, but hopefully I'll be more on track now. :)

Arddra did expect some protest about Dragonriders when she mentioned criminal in the same line but Bordtai's reaction was more extreme than she expected. Arddra sat back on her heels and regarded him. Then Nellaris as she added her comment.

"I did not say ALL dragonriders were criminal, just that many of them are. Kidnapping and raping people is considered criminal in every Hold and Hall I have been in." Arddra said coldly. "I am glad the kidnappings have stopped and it does seem there is better more honorable leadership in place now at least on that score. But unlike those who are born in the Weyr, not all of us were here by choice. I have accepted my place is here now and my own real hope for a future is to Impress a gold which I really do desire."

The painful truth was if that dragonrider had waited a few days, maybe a week, her husband probably would have died and she would have jumped at the chance to get away and join herself with a Dragon. Her grief would have made staying all the harder. But she was never given a choice, snatched up with barely a chance to scream. Terror had kept her quiet for a long time but now, it was hard not to let the old anger come forth. Taking a deep breath she let it go, she had to. She couldn't harbor resentments if she hoped to Impress a gold next time.

"To be perfectly honest, among the candidates I have been with, you all seem good honest people. It's just the older Dragonriders, the original ones who came here, I don't trust. Some of them are criminals, even if their fellows don't see them as that. Dragonriders aren't perfect, nobody is."

Looking over at Nellaris Arddra smiled and nodded. She couldn't agree more, gold dragons were magnificent once the initial fear of such large predators wore off. "They are truly beautiful..it took me awhile to feel comfortable around such large creatures but most seem to be of a gentle nature and unwilling to hurt a human. There are times I think herdbeasts are more a threat to us than the dragons. The hatchlings are clumsy and I learned the few injuries during hatching aren't intentional on the dragonets' part. No more than the playful nips of a canine."

When the question of threadfall is put before her Arddra frowned. She heard the tales, learned the Harper teaching songs but she doubted Thread would return. It may have fallen in the past but a part of her felt it was just stories the dragonriders circulated to justify their dominance till the plague nearly wiped them all out of existence.

"I have heard the Harper songs about Thread," Arddra said neutrally, "It is hard to believe such a danger would come back again after so long."

“D’ren is a good man.”  Bordtai muttered under his breath as he washed off his rag and scrubbed at the last of the stone floor that had the sticky mess on it.  Is, not was.  Bordtai could not help but look at the man who had been the Weyrleader for the entirety of his life so far as anything less than that.  He believed in D’ren just as he was now beginning to learn to trust and believe in S’kef’s leadership.  They were both Weyrleader’s in Bordtai’s mind and if one ever disagreed with the other…. Bordtai was going to be a bad position over who he would actually decide to follow and trust.

At this point the majority of the floor was clean and Bordtai was probably making more of a mess on the floor with his clothes all sticky than he was actually managing to clean up.  He was too distracted by the conversation to even notice though as he blinked back up at Nell with a look that clearly told he was confused – she might be as much of a dimglow as he was!  Did she really just call him strong and sturdy?

“It will.”  Bordtai chimed in again as they debated if thread would return or not.  “Nobody knows when, but it will.  And us dragonriders, we’ll be ready.  That’s why the wings train so much.”

Nellaris regarded Arddra with some skeptism. Though she'd grown up in the Weyr, she hadn't spent a lot of time talking with dragonriders to get to know them personally and she hadn't been on the receiving end of any particularly lusty advances, thank Faranth. She also hadn't been kidnapped. But she just couldn't fathom thinking of dragonriders as criminal.

She shook her head. "I think you'll find, in time, that the kidnappings were necessary. I can't pretend to understand what you've gone through, but when an action is taken out of necessity and for a good cause, I don't consider it to be a crime at all." She shrugged and added, "D'ren is a good man, like Bordtai said. I respect him and any decisions he makes."

It might have sounded harsh, but Nell didn't mean it to. She believed that she was right, and that dragonriders were right, and nothing was going to make her think otherwise.

"My father was one of those original dragonriders," she added with a frown. "He wasn't a criminal, either. He said we all had to work hard, work together, because if we didn't we'd be unprepared for Thread. Just because it isn't here now doesn't mean it won't be. We need to be prepared for the worst--and even if it doesn't come back during our lifetime, we need to prepare those who come after us for it. If we just sat around doing nothing, letting our numbers dwindle, a hundred years from now they wouldn't have any dragons to fight Thread. Pern would die." She nodded to Bordtai, who she was beginning to like more for sharing her sentiments, and added, "So yes, that's why the wings train so much. There wouldn't be wing training if there wasn't a point to it."

She offered Bordtai a small, rare smile. He looked astounded that she'd called him strong and sturdy, and even if she didn't quite believe it herself, he was on her side in this argument rather than telling her that she was wrong. She liked being right, and she liked having the support to back her argument up.

"Anyway," Nell said, "Hatchlings are rather clumsy, and even if they attacked intentionally the victim probably deserved it." It was a theory that Nell had come up with years ago, misconstrued from something her father had said about being all that she could be. That was why Nell tried to make everything perfect--a perfect person wouldn't get attacked on the Sands. "Golds are the loveliest of them all. I do understand what you mean about their size--it can be a bit intimidating at first." She had gotten over the size of dragons long ago, of course, but she could understand being nervous around such huge creatures.

It was fast apparent these two Candidates were very much pro dragonrider. Most likely weyrfolk who lived here all their lives. Arddra didn't know D'ren personally so couldn't say if he was one who would do criminal acts if he can get away with it. She also knew he stopped the kidnappings and that alone had to count for something.

As she had nothing to add nor disagree about considering D'ren Arddra didn't say anything, instead just focused on cleaning the last spot she could see on the floor. She then stood up.

"Kidnapping people from the north, taking them from their homes, their family, their responsibilities, no matter how 'right' it may seem at the time, is never right. I am sure there would be plenty of people who, if asked openly who would have gladly come down here to stand. I may accept now that I am here and do what I can to make a home here and focus on becoming the best choice for a future gold hatchling to Impress, but I will always see the one who ordered kidnappings and all those who failed to stand against it, as criminal."

Arddra decided that was all she was going to say on the subject. She didn't understand why the dragonriders didn't go on Search like they used to do long ago, according to the teachings she had as a child? Yes the plague decimated the dragon population and coming south probably saved the species...away from whatever spread the disease in the first place. She didn't know the same riders who kidnapped people without so much as a by your leave couldn't do it in a more legitimate and honorable way.

"It seems we have cleaned up the spill quite effectively. Thank you for helping Nellaris." Arddra shifted the subject to something neutral, tired of the argument and the pain it always brought inside, every time she was reminded of her kidnapping. "It was nice meeting you Bordtai, I am sure we will cross paths again and hopefully not after somebody played a trick on you."

"Since you are my neighbor now, hopefully we can get to know each other better in time, Nellaris." 

"I am sorry if I come across as very harsh towards dragonriders but I...just don't trust them for obvious reasons. I do agree some are better than others and perhaps I just need to meet the better ones and less of the worse ones." Arddra nods towards Nellaris and Bordtai. "I will see you two later, good day to you both."

Arddra turned and headed inside her room, hoping her strong opinions about dragonriders didn't sour the view of her by the other two candidates. Arddra knew she shouldn't be so opinionated but it was hard for her to just forget being torn from her home, forced to leave her family and her husband alone to die. Without her return with teh healer she doubted he survived on his own. Arddra hoped somebody checked in on him and was able to help for she truly cared for him. Being kidnapped wasn't the only crime she experienced at the hands of dragonriders either though she doubted any of them would think of it as criminal.

Closing her door she did her best to distract herself to get her mind off the darker memories she possessed.

<<exit Arddra>>

Nellaris frowned at Arddra as she spoke. If those who failed to stand against the kidnappings were criminals too, then she and Bordtai--no matter how young they might have been--were undoubtedly criminals in Arddra's eyes, too. Complaints welled in the back of her throat. Nell had toed the line all her life; she listened to her elders, did as she was told, and strived to make each day in the Weyr productive and worth something. She wanted to help save Pern--and that included these Candidates from the Holds that were so ungrateful for the chance to do the same. That was hardly criminal.

She simply couldn't understand where Arddra was coming from. Nell had been born in the South, raised in the kitchens of Katila, and was able to steal dragon rides to the Weyr Lake nearly every time she asked when her father was still alive. Her life had been relatively free of trauma and heartbreak. Save for the death of her father, there was little that these Hold-Candidates had mentioned about their situations that she could relate to in the slightest.

From the time she was small, Nell had wanted to be an integral part of the Weyr, riding her own dragon, and assisting in the most important mission: saving Pern. She couldn't understand how this wasn't everyone else's passion, too. For all Arddra said she was committed to Impressing a gold dragon, shouting about dragonriders being criminals didn't seem like something that was going to help her toward that goal.

Perhaps what Arddra needed, Nell thought, was someone who could convince her that dragonriders were working toward a better, safer Pern. Perhaps Arddra had only encountered those dimglows who messed around in the kitchens and didn't do their jobs correctly.

Filled with new purpose, Nell pursed her lips against the argument she'd been tempted to spill forth. Instead she said rather cordially, "The floor does look clean enough now. I do hope we'll be able to get to know each other better, too."

Nell stood and watched Arddra walk away, then turnd to Bordtai. "Do try to be a bit less clumsy next time, won't you? I need to finish unpacking, and I don't want to have to keep being interrupted to clean up messes. I have chores to get to soon, you know."

But her tone wasn't nearly as snappish as it had been she she first walked out to find him dripping in juice. In fact, as she walked back to her sleeping quarters, she decided she rather liked Bordtai. He had the right idea about dragonriders, even if he was a bit clumsy.

Bordtai, I know you said you were going to be a bit scarce for a bit so let me know if you want to reply or if I should just close the thread! :)

Bordtai watched as the northerner-turned-candidate left the scene, a little unsure on how he felt about her.  She seemed like a genuinely nice person who had all of the wrong ideas stuffed into her head.  A part of him wanted to just snort at her and send her back home since such ideas had no room here at Katila while the other part of him wanted to empty her head out and fill it with all of the right ideas.  But it wasn’t like she was new to Katila, he’d seen her at all of his candidate classes thus far even if they didn’t much talk and she was a regular face around the quieter parts of the Weyr.

Perhaps restuffing her head with the right ideas wasn’t a possibility.  After all, she should have caught on by now… right? 

Hearing Nellaris speak up next to him, Bordtai watched her stand up and appraise the floor, concluding that it would be ‘clean enough’ and announcing that she had other things to do.  It took him a minute to process her words and tone separately and realize that she wasn’t actually being typical Nell who snubbed her nose and spoke down to people.  She was telling it like it was sure, but compaired to normal Nell, she was actually being nice about it.

Looking up at her, Bordtai blinked a few times before realizing he should actually answer back. 

“I will be Nellaris.  T-thank you for helping!”  he called out after her as she disappeared into her room.  Looking down at the bucket and rags and his juice-soaked pants, Bordtai gave a lopsided smile.  Funny how womenfolk can start out so angry but if you walk the lines right they can be forgiving too.  Picking up everything left over, he headed back to the washing room to clean himself up before evening chores.

Exit Bordtai.
This should wrap it up nicely, if you want to put into all those forms we’ve got around here what happened and who was involved and all that fancy stuff I’ll let you Northern.  ^_^  Thank you both of you for being so patient with me.  Let me know if either of you want another thread.  It’ll be slow – because that’s how I roll – but I’m more than willing to do another with either or both characters again.  ^_^