Lessons Learned, Part I
WHO: K'sar, Tavaly, Roa, Essdara, Aelan, Neiran, M'eri, Kierom, Dananth, Tialith & Immath
WHEN: Day after Turn's End
WHERE: Infirmary, HRW
Note: This log covers two or three different 'scenes' but they were interlaced so tightly that I didn't feel right in splitting them up. Much of what happens with K'sar is helping in changing the character from what he was before I paused for RL move/job foo - to what he has become in the interim. Thank you to everyone who has helped in this transition.
Tavaly may have wandered off to change or bathe or get food - who knows? She's been hovering between the two - K'sar and Roa - since they were brought in. K'sar has been sleeping, his face a bit cleaner, but still dressed in his bloody and torn Gather-finery and with his head bandaged and hair sticking up.
Somewhere along the progression of the day, Roa has been awake enough to request and get her simpler clothes and her hair has been twisted back up into that practical knot. She too sports a bandage across her left temple and her left leg has been set in a splint and elevated in a sling, bare toes peeping out from the wrap. It seems she's requested one other thing because as she sits propped up in her bed, she's scribbling on a hide. And if the frustrated expression and frequent crossing-outs are any indication, she's having a hard time writing.
K'sar groans softly and stirs, one hand lifting, a bandage wrapped around it, to touch his head and tug the cloth draped over his eyes, down a little - shielding the light before he opens them. He hears the scraping of stylus on hide and turns his head - very slowly - to look at the source of the sound at the next bed over. "S'awfully loud writing." he grumbles, a quirk of a smile offered. "Roa...you alright?"
Roa's quill slows and then stops as K'sar awakens. Softly, she sets the offending implement down in its inkwell. "I'm faring better than you are," The litle weyrwoman's voice, ever soft, is especially hushed so as not to upset K'sar's ears just now. "How do you feel? Tia says Dananth's been fretting off and on all day."
"He gets worried when I sleep. My head really hurts, but they don't want to drug me too much." K'sar replies. "But how about you? He...didn't hurt you more? I dreamt..." his hand slides over his eyes and he muffles his mouth to maybe just not say what he was thinking before he opens his eyes again and looks you over from hair twist to wrapped toes. And then you hear something you probably /never/ thought to hear from K'sar's lips. "I was afraid for you."
Roa blinks and a corner of her lips curl upwards into a small, soft smile. "He didn't hurt me at all," she soothes. "I was just a little too slow dodging shelves. I...you needn't worry about me. I'm a big girl now. Well," and the gentle smile melts into a playful smirk, "figuratively at the very least."
K'sar flushes slightly and lowers his hand, all but shielding his eyes so you can't quite read them. The light, you see... "I noticed how /not/ a little girl you were, last night. I'm sorry your dress was ruined. You looked...stunning in it."
"Telgar colors," is the flat and wry rejoiner. Which is a little odd considering how fond Roa was of her home when she first left for Caucus. "But, well, thank you. I wasn't...I'd never worn anything like that before. I was a little worried I'd come across as, I don't know, a child in her mother's dress. A pretender." Dark brows arch at the way those cheeks pinken. Roa pale and K'sar blushing? Now *there's* a turn around if ever there was one.
Settling his head back gently against the pillows, K'sar swallows hard and murmurs. "You did not look like a pretender. I felt...clumsy and unsure. All the rules have changed while I was looking the other way, working on myself."
Roa looks down, at the scribbled-out hide resting in her lap. She turns it slowly for a few minutes before speaking. When she does, all is said is a murmurs, "Yes. They have."
K'sar is silent so long you might think he's fallen asleep again until you hear. "Roa...don't count me out yet, please? I...I am going to be making a serious bid for weyrleader here. I cannot let the chaos continue. Not any longer."
"I..." there is hesitation in Roa's voice. "You're a Reachian rider, now K'sar. To chase the senior gold that rises next is your right by tradition." It's a very political answer. Evasive. "You should try and sleep some more. You'll recover faster that way. Shall I tell you a story?" And there is a slice of old Telgari life. Little eleven-turn-old Roa curled up in the crook of Dananth's arm and softly reading tales to a dour and brooding K'sar.
Dananth] To Immath: Dananth murmurs. ~What is this? I am proud of him! Why does he want Yours to be so, too?~
K'sar opens his mouth,then closes it and makes a soft sound of assent. One hand picks at the blankets while he listens. Restless.
Roa settles back on her own bed, resting her hands on her belly with a soft sigh. Her eyes close and then she slowly begins to recite a story for memory. It's the tale of a rider and his attempt to get others to believe his premonitions of a landslide endangering a nearby cothold. Through determination and grit, he manages to gather together a small band of people willing to listen and ultimately they manage to save the holders barely in time, though the rider himself loses his life in saving another. His fair lover's life, it is later revealed.
K'sar is quiet after the story. "Warning me about not rescuing you again?" he finally asks, a hint of humor in his tone. "Because if you are, I'm not going to stop. You're...well, you're too precious to me." Yes, his voice is /very/ soft there.
Roa finishes the last few sentences, eyes opening and blinking away whatever it was she saw behind her eyelids. "Maybe I'm not the one who needs rescuing," she suggests. "You've been mostly gone for months. Are you, well, are you so certain you understand what's been brewing here since you've been away?"
"I know some of it - but I don't pretend to know all of it. I'd like to hear what you've seen. Ever since you were tiny, you always had a good perspective on things." K'sar replies.
Dananth] Essdara arrives in the bowl by way of the tunnel from the living cavern.
Dananth] Dananth whuffles warm breath towards Essdara.
Dananth] Aelan has arrived.
Dananth] Essdara smiles and waves To Dananth as she comes out of the caverns. She shivers a little and looks around the bowl, then sets off towards the south, wrapping her arms around herself.
Dananth] Dananth lifts his head, watching Essdara. He's a lot calmer than he has been, but his eyes are still whirling with distress.
Dananth] Aelan is making her way across the bowl at a slow place, grimacing up at the sky. She keeps her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she walks, though she seems intent on staying outside in the cold and the wind just a little bit longer, hair-obscured vision or not.
"It's...it's a shelling mess," Roa agrees with K'sar's former statement. "Things are changing and I, well, I get the feeling there are things in motion that no one knows about. I can't say what because I don't know. And," there's a brief glance around at the injured and recovering dragons, the people millign around, the open entryway, "it's not a good topic of conversation just now."
Dananth] Dananth projects to Tialith, ~ Mine says to have yours tell you, to tell me? ~
K'sar grumbles. "There are things in motion that no one knows about, yes. That's part of why I've been all over the bloody planet."
Dananth] Essdara spots Aelan, and grins brightly, angling in her direction. As she approaches the other woman, she greets her with little clouds of mist while she speaks. "Aelan! What a nice surprise; you just made a potentially long search end in an instant. Nice day out, too, give or take the cold. Don't get many like this in deep winter."
Dananth] Roused from a light doze, there is definately an edge of crankiness to Tialith's tone. ~ I am not a hide to scribble messages upon. ~ Grouse.
Dananth] To Tialith: Dananth chastizes softly but firmly. ~If something is Bad Happening, Ours need to share it.~
Roa ahhs softly. "And where *have* you been?" she pushes. There's a faint creaking as she tries to turn a bit without upsetting her leg, to better face K'sar.
K'sar says, "Went back to Telgar for one. Visited with my father for a bit. Master Harpers hear all sorts of interesting news. But..." he smiles and shrugs. "Tia's not a hide to write upon."
Dananth] "It's /cold/," Aelan observes intelligently, though she softens the complaint with a wry smile, shifting to wrap her vest more tightly around herself. "But it's outside, and like you said, not a lot of chances. I somehow foresee months of sitting in dank stone rooms all day, so I'll take what I can get." One hand is freed to hold her hair out of her face while she talks, smile rueful. "So, how'd the party go after I left? Get any more interesting?"
Dananth] Confusion. Politics is a fairly alien concept to dragonminds and conveying Roa's thoughts on the subject is perplexing to the young queen. ~ She says it is not bad, necessarily. But something will be unexpected. Maybe better, though. Maybe. ~
Dananth] Dananth whuffles at Essdara, crooning low. Scritches!
Roa laughs, rolling her eyes. "She's only cranky because the healers say my leg must be splinted for at least another month. And that means no riding." The smirk dims a little. "Truthfully, I can't say I like that news very much myself."
K'sar makes a face. "No, that would not be good. I haven't spoken to a healer yet, just the apprentices that come and go. I would dearly love a bath, but sitting up too fast makes me want to hurl. I think I'll just stay here for a little bit."
Dananth] Essdara's smile fades completely. "You could say that." She says, with a sigh. "See, I was /hoping/ to not talk about that. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it." A demand for attention inturrupts her, and she almost looks greatful for a slight distraction, obediently moving towards the bronze. "Denanth, K'sar's bronze." She explains for Aelan as she touches the dragon. "He must be lurking around here somewhere. I never did get the dance he promised." Sadness. "Anyway. You know Roa? She rides Tialith, a Telgar gold. Well, apparently, she got hurt somehow. And not just her, but some guards, too. It was... Not pretty, when I saw them." Her voice gets quieter as she talks about it. "Ashwin had her, and was just covered in blood. But she'l be ok, I hear."
Dananth] Dananth croons at the conversation, eyes whirling as he whuffles worriedly at Essdara.
"I'm sure we can arrange to at least have your clothes changed and your skin washed," Roa says with a frown. "I wouldn't sit up if it makes you feel sick." And then, "Excuse me..." this is said to an apprentice drifting by who stops at the hail. "Yes, ma'am?"
K'sar grins a bit wryly. "It only hurts when I laugh - so don't laugh? Yeah, I sat up once and nearly got Tavaly's shoes. I haven't tried that again since." He falls silent as you talk to the apprentice.
Dananth] Aelan's brows rise, a completely inappropriate measure of interest in her eyes at the talk of blood and danger and other unladylike things. "So something happened when they left," she muses, clasping her hands lightly behind her back as she approaches the bronze with Dara. "Did you hear if they got whoever did it? Or is there someone wandering around the Weyr, now, just waiting to strike again?" It would be so much more tactful if she could keep the excitement out of her voice.
"Could someone please be sent to retrieve clean, loose clothes for my friend?" A gesture towards K'sar. "And some warm water and a cloth so he might be washed as best as can be managed?" She sounds...almost like a real weyrwoman. Gentle, yet stern. A tone that implies the requests, though phrased sweetly, are expected to be carried out. The Apprentice hurriedly murmurs another "Yes, ma'am" and then rushes off to arrange it.
Dananth] Essdara pauses in her scratching a moment; you can almost /hear/ her counting to ten before she goes on. "Aelan, I feel compelled to mention here that I would be hard pressed to think of anyone I care about as much as I do Roa." She sighs and steps back from the dragon, giving the bronze a bit of a long look. "Not sure what he's so worked up about, though I did see K'sar and Roa together..." But, alas, clues fail to mesh, and she turns to Aelan. "OK. I need to have a talk with you... Somewhere warm, I think. Would you come with me?"
Dananth] Dananth croons and grumbles before his head thumps down on the ground, eyes still whirling.
K'sar smiles slowly, murmuring. "Now /that/ is something to see. I think I could get used to you being in my corner." Yes, he just complimented you. "Thank you, Roa." is offered a moment or two later before he closes his eyes and waits for things to happen.
Dananth] To Tialith: Dananth grumbles. ~Mine hurts and does not speak of it. Tell yours? He is not being good to himself.~
Dananth] "Oh." Aelan pauses uncomfortably, looking down at her boots for a moment before speaking again. "Sorry," she adds more quietly. "I just- Well, you said she was okay, right?" At the last question, she nods, shifting her weight from foot to foot and dragging a hand through her hair while still looking away. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."
Roa cups her head in her hands as the apprentice dissapears. "My stomach turns to jelly when I do that," she murmurs, sounding much more her old self. "I don't think that I'm ever--" and then she stops, head lifting, her attention sharpening on the bronzerider. "K'sar," she says softly. "What's hurting?"
Dananth] Essdara gives Dananth a wave, and turns away. "This way." And she heads off towards the hatching cavern. "Always nice and warm in here. And never any company." She explains as she leads Aelan towards it.
Dananth] Essdara ventures down the short tunnel that leads into the hatching grounds.
Dananth] Aelan ventures down the short tunnel that leads into the hatching grounds.
WHEN: Day after Turn's End
WHERE: Infirmary, HRW
Note: This log covers two or three different 'scenes' but they were interlaced so tightly that I didn't feel right in splitting them up. Much of what happens with K'sar is helping in changing the character from what he was before I paused for RL move/job foo - to what he has become in the interim. Thank you to everyone who has helped in this transition.
Tavaly may have wandered off to change or bathe or get food - who knows? She's been hovering between the two - K'sar and Roa - since they were brought in. K'sar has been sleeping, his face a bit cleaner, but still dressed in his bloody and torn Gather-finery and with his head bandaged and hair sticking up.
Somewhere along the progression of the day, Roa has been awake enough to request and get her simpler clothes and her hair has been twisted back up into that practical knot. She too sports a bandage across her left temple and her left leg has been set in a splint and elevated in a sling, bare toes peeping out from the wrap. It seems she's requested one other thing because as she sits propped up in her bed, she's scribbling on a hide. And if the frustrated expression and frequent crossing-outs are any indication, she's having a hard time writing.
K'sar groans softly and stirs, one hand lifting, a bandage wrapped around it, to touch his head and tug the cloth draped over his eyes, down a little - shielding the light before he opens them. He hears the scraping of stylus on hide and turns his head - very slowly - to look at the source of the sound at the next bed over. "S'awfully loud writing." he grumbles, a quirk of a smile offered. "Roa...you alright?"
Roa's quill slows and then stops as K'sar awakens. Softly, she sets the offending implement down in its inkwell. "I'm faring better than you are," The litle weyrwoman's voice, ever soft, is especially hushed so as not to upset K'sar's ears just now. "How do you feel? Tia says Dananth's been fretting off and on all day."
"He gets worried when I sleep. My head really hurts, but they don't want to drug me too much." K'sar replies. "But how about you? He...didn't hurt you more? I dreamt..." his hand slides over his eyes and he muffles his mouth to maybe just not say what he was thinking before he opens his eyes again and looks you over from hair twist to wrapped toes. And then you hear something you probably /never/ thought to hear from K'sar's lips. "I was afraid for you."
Roa blinks and a corner of her lips curl upwards into a small, soft smile. "He didn't hurt me at all," she soothes. "I was just a little too slow dodging shelves. I...you needn't worry about me. I'm a big girl now. Well," and the gentle smile melts into a playful smirk, "figuratively at the very least."
K'sar flushes slightly and lowers his hand, all but shielding his eyes so you can't quite read them. The light, you see... "I noticed how /not/ a little girl you were, last night. I'm sorry your dress was ruined. You looked...stunning in it."
"Telgar colors," is the flat and wry rejoiner. Which is a little odd considering how fond Roa was of her home when she first left for Caucus. "But, well, thank you. I wasn't...I'd never worn anything like that before. I was a little worried I'd come across as, I don't know, a child in her mother's dress. A pretender." Dark brows arch at the way those cheeks pinken. Roa pale and K'sar blushing? Now *there's* a turn around if ever there was one.
Settling his head back gently against the pillows, K'sar swallows hard and murmurs. "You did not look like a pretender. I felt...clumsy and unsure. All the rules have changed while I was looking the other way, working on myself."
Roa looks down, at the scribbled-out hide resting in her lap. She turns it slowly for a few minutes before speaking. When she does, all is said is a murmurs, "Yes. They have."
K'sar is silent so long you might think he's fallen asleep again until you hear. "Roa...don't count me out yet, please? I...I am going to be making a serious bid for weyrleader here. I cannot let the chaos continue. Not any longer."
"I..." there is hesitation in Roa's voice. "You're a Reachian rider, now K'sar. To chase the senior gold that rises next is your right by tradition." It's a very political answer. Evasive. "You should try and sleep some more. You'll recover faster that way. Shall I tell you a story?" And there is a slice of old Telgari life. Little eleven-turn-old Roa curled up in the crook of Dananth's arm and softly reading tales to a dour and brooding K'sar.
Dananth] To Immath: Dananth murmurs. ~What is this? I am proud of him! Why does he want Yours to be so, too?~
K'sar opens his mouth,then closes it and makes a soft sound of assent. One hand picks at the blankets while he listens. Restless.
Roa settles back on her own bed, resting her hands on her belly with a soft sigh. Her eyes close and then she slowly begins to recite a story for memory. It's the tale of a rider and his attempt to get others to believe his premonitions of a landslide endangering a nearby cothold. Through determination and grit, he manages to gather together a small band of people willing to listen and ultimately they manage to save the holders barely in time, though the rider himself loses his life in saving another. His fair lover's life, it is later revealed.
K'sar is quiet after the story. "Warning me about not rescuing you again?" he finally asks, a hint of humor in his tone. "Because if you are, I'm not going to stop. You're...well, you're too precious to me." Yes, his voice is /very/ soft there.
Roa finishes the last few sentences, eyes opening and blinking away whatever it was she saw behind her eyelids. "Maybe I'm not the one who needs rescuing," she suggests. "You've been mostly gone for months. Are you, well, are you so certain you understand what's been brewing here since you've been away?"
"I know some of it - but I don't pretend to know all of it. I'd like to hear what you've seen. Ever since you were tiny, you always had a good perspective on things." K'sar replies.
Dananth] Essdara arrives in the bowl by way of the tunnel from the living cavern.
Dananth] Dananth whuffles warm breath towards Essdara.
Dananth] Aelan has arrived.
Dananth] Essdara smiles and waves To Dananth as she comes out of the caverns. She shivers a little and looks around the bowl, then sets off towards the south, wrapping her arms around herself.
Dananth] Dananth lifts his head, watching Essdara. He's a lot calmer than he has been, but his eyes are still whirling with distress.
Dananth] Aelan is making her way across the bowl at a slow place, grimacing up at the sky. She keeps her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she walks, though she seems intent on staying outside in the cold and the wind just a little bit longer, hair-obscured vision or not.
"It's...it's a shelling mess," Roa agrees with K'sar's former statement. "Things are changing and I, well, I get the feeling there are things in motion that no one knows about. I can't say what because I don't know. And," there's a brief glance around at the injured and recovering dragons, the people millign around, the open entryway, "it's not a good topic of conversation just now."
Dananth] Dananth projects to Tialith, ~ Mine says to have yours tell you, to tell me? ~
K'sar grumbles. "There are things in motion that no one knows about, yes. That's part of why I've been all over the bloody planet."
Dananth] Essdara spots Aelan, and grins brightly, angling in her direction. As she approaches the other woman, she greets her with little clouds of mist while she speaks. "Aelan! What a nice surprise; you just made a potentially long search end in an instant. Nice day out, too, give or take the cold. Don't get many like this in deep winter."
Dananth] Roused from a light doze, there is definately an edge of crankiness to Tialith's tone. ~ I am not a hide to scribble messages upon. ~ Grouse.
Dananth] To Tialith: Dananth chastizes softly but firmly. ~If something is Bad Happening, Ours need to share it.~
Roa ahhs softly. "And where *have* you been?" she pushes. There's a faint creaking as she tries to turn a bit without upsetting her leg, to better face K'sar.
K'sar says, "Went back to Telgar for one. Visited with my father for a bit. Master Harpers hear all sorts of interesting news. But..." he smiles and shrugs. "Tia's not a hide to write upon."
Dananth] "It's /cold/," Aelan observes intelligently, though she softens the complaint with a wry smile, shifting to wrap her vest more tightly around herself. "But it's outside, and like you said, not a lot of chances. I somehow foresee months of sitting in dank stone rooms all day, so I'll take what I can get." One hand is freed to hold her hair out of her face while she talks, smile rueful. "So, how'd the party go after I left? Get any more interesting?"
Dananth] Confusion. Politics is a fairly alien concept to dragonminds and conveying Roa's thoughts on the subject is perplexing to the young queen. ~ She says it is not bad, necessarily. But something will be unexpected. Maybe better, though. Maybe. ~
Dananth] Dananth whuffles at Essdara, crooning low. Scritches!
Roa laughs, rolling her eyes. "She's only cranky because the healers say my leg must be splinted for at least another month. And that means no riding." The smirk dims a little. "Truthfully, I can't say I like that news very much myself."
K'sar makes a face. "No, that would not be good. I haven't spoken to a healer yet, just the apprentices that come and go. I would dearly love a bath, but sitting up too fast makes me want to hurl. I think I'll just stay here for a little bit."
Dananth] Essdara's smile fades completely. "You could say that." She says, with a sigh. "See, I was /hoping/ to not talk about that. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it." A demand for attention inturrupts her, and she almost looks greatful for a slight distraction, obediently moving towards the bronze. "Denanth, K'sar's bronze." She explains for Aelan as she touches the dragon. "He must be lurking around here somewhere. I never did get the dance he promised." Sadness. "Anyway. You know Roa? She rides Tialith, a Telgar gold. Well, apparently, she got hurt somehow. And not just her, but some guards, too. It was... Not pretty, when I saw them." Her voice gets quieter as she talks about it. "Ashwin had her, and was just covered in blood. But she'l be ok, I hear."
Dananth] Dananth croons at the conversation, eyes whirling as he whuffles worriedly at Essdara.
"I'm sure we can arrange to at least have your clothes changed and your skin washed," Roa says with a frown. "I wouldn't sit up if it makes you feel sick." And then, "Excuse me..." this is said to an apprentice drifting by who stops at the hail. "Yes, ma'am?"
K'sar grins a bit wryly. "It only hurts when I laugh - so don't laugh? Yeah, I sat up once and nearly got Tavaly's shoes. I haven't tried that again since." He falls silent as you talk to the apprentice.
Dananth] Aelan's brows rise, a completely inappropriate measure of interest in her eyes at the talk of blood and danger and other unladylike things. "So something happened when they left," she muses, clasping her hands lightly behind her back as she approaches the bronze with Dara. "Did you hear if they got whoever did it? Or is there someone wandering around the Weyr, now, just waiting to strike again?" It would be so much more tactful if she could keep the excitement out of her voice.
"Could someone please be sent to retrieve clean, loose clothes for my friend?" A gesture towards K'sar. "And some warm water and a cloth so he might be washed as best as can be managed?" She sounds...almost like a real weyrwoman. Gentle, yet stern. A tone that implies the requests, though phrased sweetly, are expected to be carried out. The Apprentice hurriedly murmurs another "Yes, ma'am" and then rushes off to arrange it.
Dananth] Essdara pauses in her scratching a moment; you can almost /hear/ her counting to ten before she goes on. "Aelan, I feel compelled to mention here that I would be hard pressed to think of anyone I care about as much as I do Roa." She sighs and steps back from the dragon, giving the bronze a bit of a long look. "Not sure what he's so worked up about, though I did see K'sar and Roa together..." But, alas, clues fail to mesh, and she turns to Aelan. "OK. I need to have a talk with you... Somewhere warm, I think. Would you come with me?"
Dananth] Dananth croons and grumbles before his head thumps down on the ground, eyes still whirling.
K'sar smiles slowly, murmuring. "Now /that/ is something to see. I think I could get used to you being in my corner." Yes, he just complimented you. "Thank you, Roa." is offered a moment or two later before he closes his eyes and waits for things to happen.
Dananth] To Tialith: Dananth grumbles. ~Mine hurts and does not speak of it. Tell yours? He is not being good to himself.~
Dananth] "Oh." Aelan pauses uncomfortably, looking down at her boots for a moment before speaking again. "Sorry," she adds more quietly. "I just- Well, you said she was okay, right?" At the last question, she nods, shifting her weight from foot to foot and dragging a hand through her hair while still looking away. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."
Roa cups her head in her hands as the apprentice dissapears. "My stomach turns to jelly when I do that," she murmurs, sounding much more her old self. "I don't think that I'm ever--" and then she stops, head lifting, her attention sharpening on the bronzerider. "K'sar," she says softly. "What's hurting?"
Dananth] Essdara gives Dananth a wave, and turns away. "This way." And she heads off towards the hatching cavern. "Always nice and warm in here. And never any company." She explains as she leads Aelan towards it.
Dananth] Essdara ventures down the short tunnel that leads into the hatching grounds.
Dananth] Aelan ventures down the short tunnel that leads into the hatching grounds.