[Log] Little Brother
Who: Katric, Zoma
When: Day 8, Month 7, Turn 2, 7th Pass
Where: Beach, Western Islands
What:
On a Western Island, Beach
The island's beach is long and narrow, tapering in a curve to the north and south. The grey sand is trapped between the surf of the ocean and a short wall of weathered stone. Above and beyond this is the border of a tropical forest, tall and shadowy even in the brightest sunshine. A thin path winds its way up the face of the cliff and disappears into the trees.
In the wet season, a clear day is little more than the rains catching their breath. Though heavy clouds loom ever present, they split apart every so often to allow clear crisp sunshine to sneak through.
Contents:
Zoma
Obvious Exits:
Narrow Path (NP)
It's evening time on the islands, most of the day's work finished, the fishing crews heading in with the day's catch. Donavon's been out with them, and has apparently succeeded in dragging Katric out with him, much to the younger man's irritation. He comes back sunburned and exhausted-looking, damp from the water, and collapses under the first tree he gets to with a melodramatic groan. Donavon only snickers, shakes his head, and turns to help unload the boats, leaving the healer to himself.
From down the beach comes a figure that, until closer, is hard to make out as female. The curse of poor Zoma. She's whistling as she walks, either having been off working somewhere else or off hiding somewhere else. Whatever the case it's left her in a cheerful mood. Not as if that is not the norm with her usually. When she spies work being done she changes course a bit to come up upon it along the tree line which does allow her to nearly stumble over Katric where he has collapsed. "Rough day?" she asks with a grin, managing to do little else but send a bit of sand sprayed onto him.
"Boat. Fish." Katric points vaguely behind him, sprawled on his stomach on the sandy ground. "Donavon /made/ me." Sniffle. He pushes himself up enough to roll over and prop his back against the tree. His face and the back of his neck are bright red from the sun, and he looks miserable for it. "Don't know anything about fishing. I'm a healer. I oughta be healing. Now I /need/ healing," he grumps, poking gingerly at one shoulder and wincing.
Head shaking, Zoma crouches down beside poor Katric and peers at his sunburn. "Oh, ouch. Should get a hat. A big floppy one. Easy enough to make from plants about here. That will help. And there's other plants to help with the burn. Can't say as I've a clue what they are. Been a long time since I've worried about being burned." She resists the urge to reach out and poke at the red skin. Although it tempts because, well, that's the sort of person she is. However she just keeps her hands on her knees. "Plenty around here who fancy themselves healers. Just get one to fix you right up. And take it easy the next few days. Water reflects the sunlight and makes it worse. No naked swimming unless it's at night."
"No naked swimming anyway," Katric grumbles. "Scared one of those crazy fishies'll bite--something." Grimace. Another wince. "I know what to do for it; I just don't... I haven't done it much. S'not my specialty," is his explanation. "I'll have to go track down the plants and fix them for it, and then get it all applied."
Zoma's head cocks over to one side and she grins widely. "Get someone to do it for you. Plenty of girls I imagine would be willing to help and not as if your lady friend back home will ever know seeing as we're all stuck here even after you get set free." A note of teasing enters her tone throughout all of this, but she doesn't push matters. "Those fish, by the way, ain't gonna do that. Plenty of men swim with dangly bits dangling. But, whatever suits you." Pausing she settles back onto her heels and glances towards the people working. "Must be nice not being the new people now, eh? No one cares no more with that baby and whomever else showed up."
"Don't trust them." Ladies, or fish? Katric doesn't say, only fixes the water and the men working at the boats with a scowl. "You never know, they might want to try something. Not gonna take the risk." Though, at her latter words, he glances around quickly, green eyes widening. "You know something about that? I don't know anything. I should, though--it's a baby, right? A baby needs a healer looking after it, if it's gonna live out /here/."
"Can't say for sure," Zoma says, wide-eyed and innocent sounding. "Someone said they imagined these new arrivals would be needing milk in particular is all. And, who would need that but a baby." Shifting her legs she plops into the sand and leans back on both hands. "So, I imagine there's someone with a kid. Someone who ain't been seen, you know? Seems weird to me. We're not so many that we don't notice when someone's kept apart. Baby should see a healer though, you're right." Head tilting to the side she glances over at Katric. "Healer could see who was with the baby I imagine. Sure love to know who. I hate not knowing who my neighbors are."
Katric's lips purse, the red-faced healer studying Zoma intently. "We should look into it," he decides after a moment. "Me. You. Us. I mean, I'm a healer--I have a right to. And you--you seem like you oughta be good at getting things out of people, right?"
Zoma laughs brightly and shrugs thin shoulders. "Suppose I could try. Not sure many people trust me. I'm flighty, ya know? And odd. People think I am odd. But, we should find out." Blinking a few times she leans forward and lowers her voice. "Could be they sent someone sick. Could be they're in quarantine, ya know? We could all be infected. We have a right ta know if you ask me." Leaning back again she grins. "I like you, kid. So I'll work with you on this. But you gotta promise a fair trade of info. I learn I tell you. You learn you tell me."
"Of course," Katric agrees quickly, nodding to Zoma. "Of course I will. I can find out lots of things, I bet, if I ask around. I'll get Donavon, too--he's real good at this whole sneaking around thing. S'what we did back home, at the Reaches, while we were working for--for getting right of the Igenites, you know?"
"I have no idea, kid," Zoma says with a grin. "But, don't much care. Ta be honest, the whole planet can rot for all I care. They were content to shove us off like some embarrassment. Why should I care about places I'll never see? People who don't even know who I am? Still, I'm willing to trade information." She stops here, head cocking to one side. "You got people trying to pull you yet? Don't know if you realised what it's like? What with the old leader and the current and all. Mess."
"I met him," Katric answers after a moment. "Derek, I mean. The leader-guy. And I know Diya. But--pulled?" He cocks his head curiously.
"Diya? Oh, the goldrider? She ain't no leader around here," Zoma says with a faint snarl to her tone. "She's some whiner from the mainland who ain't worth the sand she walks on. Don't go thinking she's in charge or even close to it. She's suffered here and that's all. Or didn't you learn what we was trying to do? Just cause she's got some big gold doesn't mean we got to bow to her and scrape like we was on the mainland." She stops here to collect herself and then tosses her head, laughing. "But Derek. He's the leader. Many don't think he's so great, but I ain't bothered. All the same. And, yea. Like I said, many don't think he's so great. They'll try to talk to you quiet like and convince you it could be better without him in charge. I say, he does fine enough so far, but like I said, what does it matter in the long run?"
Katric shrugs. "He seemed fine when I met him, back when I first got here. When Donavon was still out of it," he answers, not touching the subject of Diya--see, he learns! "What don't they like about him?"
He is such a good boy! An excellent little brother! Zoma beams at Katric before looking down the beach. "He ain't so bad. You hear things, you know? But I ain't never seen no proof he holds babies underwater til they die so I figure it's just people pissed. Had a rider in charge at first and all. Reckon lots don't like the fact we ain't got one now. He just doesn't take any lip. Runs a tight ship, you know? Mostly if you stay outta his way you do fine."
"Sounds like Donavon," Katric notes with a shrug. "And--our friends. People like to say things about us, too, but we're not half as bad as they say. We do our best to help the Weyr, right? And Derek, he was nice to me when I met him, and that J'lor guy hasn't even bothered to come see us." He nods firmly, settling that in his mind.
"No, he hasn't? Well, don't see why he would and all. He's not real fond of criminals I think. Although they had to be saved same as everyone else. Don't trust him myself. Always up to something, riders. Think they're better than us." Shaking her head, Zoma gathers up a hand full of sand and then lets it sift through her fingers. "And we're just gonna be stuck with more after that gold lays her eggs. We got enough problems and she brings us this. As for Derek, he can be nice, yea. So long as you don't cross him I suppose. Like I said, stayin' out of his way the's best. Or gettin' on his good side."
"Not all of them," Katric protests that. "I know some good ones. A few, anyway. Lots of 'em aren't so good, but." He shrugs. "And you can't blame Diya, either--she's done good by us, and she got screwed over for it again. Can't blame her for thinking twice about wanting to be there, and, well. What's a better hiding spot that this?" He gestures across the beach, grimacing. "How d'you get on his good side?" he asks of Derek.
"Oh, kid, do I look like the sort who knows how to get on anyone's good side?" Zoma asks with a loud laugh. "I don't even bother. Make yourself useful. Best way. Be loyal. Suppose that's about how you get on anyone's good side." More sand and then she dusts her hand off on her leg. "You want I could put a good word in for you." A nod at this and she grins. "Either he'll be intrigued or he'll leave you be. Besides, got to see the man again anyway soon."
"What d'you got to see him for?" wonders Katric curiously, studying Zoma intently. "You can do that, right? For me and Don, put in a good word. We're both... He could use us, I bet. Don'd like that--definitely sounds like his sort of thing."
Head twisting this way and that to peer about, because something interesting might be happening, Zoma laughs once more, sounding amused. "It's a secret. What I got to see him about. Well, not so much a secret as I ain't got the exact idea. But, we got business I suppose." Gaze settling on Katric a moment she studies him before nodding once. "Sure. I can do that. Like I said, can't guarantee anything, but I figure can't hurt. Wanna help you out, kid. Remind me of my brother and all."
"Thanks." Katric flashes Zoma a smile, bright in his sunburned face. Then, curious again, he queries, "You got a brother? Me, too. I... sort of. We don't get along very well." He shrugs, glances down and then back up.
"I got more than one," Zoma admits with a loose grin. "One I was real close to before this mess, ya know? I miss him a lot. Used to dream about seeing him again some day." She sounds so calm about it too, ducking her head so the fading light hides, with any luck, the glint of something harder when she speaks of her brother. "We don't get along either I guess. Now. But we used to be close. Miss family. Having em around, you know? Didn't seem right to try to find someone where to start one. What life can any kid be given?"
Katric tucks his hair back habitually. "Me and my brother used to be close, too," he confesses. "Then--then they kicked me out of the hall and now he hates me. I think he hates me, anyway. Sure he does, now, after--" He doesn't finish. "He just... never understood, I guess. Him or Dad either one. But someday--when I get back--they will, and things'll be all right again."
Zoma tucks her legs under her and listens, a sympathetic expression on her face. "Sounds rough. Family, they're important, ya know? But at the same time. . .they're hard. I love mine. I protected them in the end. Didn't have to. My brother knows that I think, but he was scared. I like to think he might understand, but I know he doesn't. We were fine til he met this girl he probably married. Then he started listening to her about everything. Like suddenly after almost twenty turns my opinion don't matter no more?"
Katric hesitates, lips pursing. "I'm sorry," he offers after a moment. "Mine, they just never... I don't know. I don't know what changed. The Hall, I guess--when they threw me out and I came home, back to the Reaches, that was when I figured it out. But the Hall shouldn't have ever thrown me out in the first place. They never even listened to my side of the story." He frowns and then forces a shrug, brushing off the matter.
"What story?" Zoma asks, curious. And then nothing to see if he will answer. And if not what excuse he will use.
"Of how I got kicked out of the Hall," Katric answers simply, without more explanation than that.
"Tease," Zoma informs him with a laugh. "I share everything with you. Life's an open book it is. Even offered to put in a good word with the boss. And you won't even tell me one tiny little thing?" With a heavy sigh she pouts, head shaking. "Makes me sad. Here I think of you like the little brother I lost and you treat me this way. . .breaking my heart, Kat."
Katric is, at heart, basically a nice guy. He shifts uncomfortably and frowns at the sand before finally answering. "They said I was killing people," he notes. Then, he looks up again, fixing Zoma with an intense look, earnest. "But they were dying, anyway. Terminal patients, wasting diseases. My specialty. I was just saving them the pain--saving their families the pain. It was better that way."
Zoma's head cocks over as she listens and there's nothing given away in her expression. "Sick people with no help?" she asks for clarification. Head cocking to the other side she slowly nods her head. "Doesn't seem so wrong to me. But, that's the problem with things. No one's willing to listen to change. Healers want to keep everything the same. Not that I condone killing people or anything. But seems to me sometimes people should be put outta their misery." More considering as she tilts her head from side to side before finally another nod. "Yea. Sorry, kid. For what they did to you. Can see why they did it I suppose, but don't seem right."
"You ever seen that?" Katric asks abruptly, frowning. "Sat and watched somebody just waste away like that? Damn right it's better to just get it over and done with." He shakes his head and falls silent, tracing fingers in the sand. Then: "What'd you do? Back before, I mean?"
"Bit of this and that," is answered to the second part, letting the other conversation drop. "My parents had a little bit of land outside Fort. Long story, really, how it came about. Wasn't much interested in much of anything. Suppose I was learning how to be a wife and all that crap girls are supposed to learn. Took care of my brothers and sisters. Helped in the field some when they needed it. Ran errands when they needed running. Was a waste my mother said sometimes. How I had no craft or family or anything. Reckon I wasn't cut out for it. Was content helping them."
"You never wanted to get married or anything?" Katric inquires, cocking his head as he watches Zoma again. "Not at all? Must've been... I dunno. Doesn't sound like fun to me. I want to get married. Someday. When I get back home again."
"Sure I want to get married," Zoma says with a grin and a wink. "Want a family like I said. But I hadn't met anyone I wanted to marry. S'easier for a man, you know? He don't have to worry about picking the wrong woman and winding up beaten every night for stupid stuff. Seen it happen to my friends. I was gonna settle down soon as I met someone right. What was the rush anyway? Too late now, of course."
Katric just stares at Katric. "People /do/ that?" he wonders. "I mean, I've heard rumors and stuff, but--can't really imagine it. /I/ wouldn't do that. It's just... it doesn't sound right. And--you never met nobody out here?"
Fingers digging into the sand, Zoma bobs her head up and down, looking quite earnest. "Yes. They do. And I don't want no part of that." Lifting her hands she waves her arms around to encompass the island. "Kid, take a look. I'm gonna die on this island. We're all gonna. 'Cept you who is goin' home of course." She is, it would seem, willing to entertain his delusions today. "What sort of life can I offer any kids? Or their kids? No. Best I remain alone."
"Still doesn't sound very nice," Katric says, shrugging, though he does look around briefly. "Maybe no kids, though? I mean, if you met somebody who was already stuck here, and you just... stuck here together?"
Zoma shakes her head and drops her hands back to her sides, grinning. "I'm not like that, Kat. I lose interest in em after awhile. Mother used to say I was wherrybrained about most anything. Suppose she was right. But there's so much to see and do why waste your time with the same thing over and over? Life's dull enough on this island. Rather take my chances with someone different whenever I can."
Katric nods slowly. "I guess so," he agrees after a moment, thoughtful. "But I don't think /I'm/ like that."
Zoma grins and winks over at Katric. "Yea. You're safe from me cause I'm gonna treat you like a brother. Got your woman waiting for you anyway. S'not my fault I was born this way. Suppose if I'd have been happy to settle down I wouldn't be in this place would I? Still, we're all different, yea? It's what makes life interesting."
Katric grins. "I never had a sister," he admits. "It'll be nice. What do sisters do, exactly? My brother used to beat me up sometimes, but he wouldn't let anybody else do it." Pause. "How /did/ you get caught, anyway?"
Zoma sits up straight and blows hair off her face. "Well, I never beat my brother up. I teased him and stuff, but yea. You don't let anyone else mess with your family. They're your family. You protect them no matter what. You may give them a hard time or something, but you never let anyone hurt them. Even if you have to. . ." Trailing off she looks out at the ocean and then stands up, the back of her hand brushing against her eyes. "Gonna be supper soon. Best get in and see what sorta fish we're having."
Katric is a healer, but that doesn't mean he's tactful when dealing with hurt people. "Even if you have to what?" he asks, remaining sitting, and shooting a curious look up at Zoma.
Zoma turns to head towards the settlement. She takes several steps before she stops and turns her head to look at him over her shoulder. "Even if you have to come here, kid, alone." Which seems to be her final word as she slips into the trees and the darkness.