New and oh so lost (OPEN to EVERYONE)

[guest]

Linara had only been living at the great Weyr of Allride for a couple of days now and still had no idea around any of it. She was supposed to meet with the Weyr's Tanner so he could fit her with a new pair of boots, and some other clothes that he said she could actually get some work with. For some reason, everyone thought that plump Linara had clothes that was way too good for her. She didn't understand that all and instead thought that everyone around her dressed kind of shabbily, but it didn't really matter to her. All she had brought with her was the stuff her parents had bought her over the Turns, so she guessed it wasn't her fault that none of these people knew how to get dressed.

She had been on her way to the Tanner, but took a wrong turn. Then another. Then another. And then one more. She was now finally so lost that she had no idea where she was and was becoming kind of scared. finally she came out of a big door and found herself outside! She was now in the Weyr Bowl of all places!

"Oh, by Faranath! How did I end up all the way out here?" She moaned, discouraged and almost completely alone. Around here, people were walking around. She saw a couple of dragonriders and some other people who were carrying baskets or pushing carts into the Weyr.

Linara really wanted to ask someone for help, but she didn't know who! With a unhappy frown she darted towards one group, but it seemed like just when she got close, they all went their separate directions. Oh, this wasn't good! What if the Weyr Tanner gave up and left because she was taking too long?

"Oooh!" And with that, she quickly marched towards another person, hoping they could help.

[shadowreine]

Now, the question right now, was how much attention Linara was paying. To, say, the knots worn by the man who turned at that 'oooh!'

He blinked and tilted his head slightly. Oh. Candidate. New candidate, judging by how lost she seemed right now. And she was coming right towards him.

Which was, of course, the moment Kilith chose to backwing to a landing just behind his rider, the huge bronze settling easily to the ground.

C'lyn glanced over his shoulder at his lifemate and smiled, then carried the smile to the confused looking girl. "As I don't recognize you, I'm assuming you're new around here," he said, easily. He was really trying his best not to intimidate her...of course, the huge bronze dragon hardly helped on that quest...even Purth or a rainbow could be intimidatingly large if one was not used to dragons. He tried to put her at ease with his manner.

[guest]

Oh, dear! She hadn't meant to run right into a bronze dragonrider! She had just been hoping that the man she was approaching was another Candidate or maybe just a lowly kitchen worker. As soon as he turned around, she saw the ropes she recognized to be a bronzerider and gasped. He was smiling at her, but she couldn't help but shrink back just a bit. Linara wasn't one to be intimidated, but she couldn't help but be just a little bit afraid of a man who had Impressed a bronze!

[shadowreine]

C'lyn made his smile warmer, and Kilith even hunkered down, closing his wings so he didn't look quite so huge. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Faranth, the girl was...well. Probably intimidated by leadership. Or maybe it was Kilith. "And neither I nor Kilith bite, I promise."

Well, Kilith bit herdbeast, but that didn't really count. The great bronze lowered his head, regarding the girl with even, slow-whirling green eyes. "Are you lost? The Weyr is rather large."

[guest]

OOC:I am sorry shadowreine, but I think that most of my post got cut off. I will make this one better to make up for it.

IC:

Well, did she really seem that scared by the bronze dragon and his rider? Well, maybe she did because she hadn't found her voice yet. She couldn't help feeling a little afraid by the pair of adult bronze and rider, but LInara's courage returned and she stood up at her full height, trying to smile back at his charming grin.

"Yes, I am bronzerider. Forgive me for disturbing you with my silence and almost running into you," She said bowing deeply like she was taught to do for people who had lots higher rank than she, who was now just a tiny little Candidate, had. Linara came up from her bow and straighened the hair that had come out of place back into place.

"I am glad that your great bronze Kilith doesn't bite because he could probably take my whole head off!" Linara said with a girlish giggle, hoping she appeared cute to the bronzerider. If she ever Impressed, and she was lucky enough to ride the queen or even a green or one of those other new pretty colors, his dragon could probably end up chasing hers!

"Yes I have found my self to be a little lost. I was supposed to be going to the Weyr Tanner for new clothes...well, old clothes, but I couldn't find his office and ended up all the way out here!"

[shadowreine]

C'lyn smiled again. "Yes, you need clothes that won't matter if you get dirt or oil on them."

She wouldn't be the first candidate whose parents only packed her Gather best. "I sometimes change three or four times a day...if we've been working with firestone...believe me, you want to change and bathe after that."

Of course, if she was lucky, she wouldn't ever have to work with stone. "You may be lucky enough to escape that."

Kilith rumbled gently, regarding the candidate again. He settled comfortably. "How about this. I need to talk to the Tanners myself about more strap leather. I'll show you the way over there. No sense going separately to the same place, after all. What's your name?"

He was not exactly hiding who he was, but he was trying to let her down easily, as it were. Had he known her thoughts, it would have reminded him that Kilith seldom chased anyone except Malaracyth these days. He was pretty much in love with her.

[guest]

Oh, she hadn't thought of that. Dirt and oil? And on her good clothes?! She made a slight face, pursing her lips and stairing down at her beautiful red and gold dress. Her parents had bought it for her a Turn ago and it still looked like she'd only worn it once because of how well she liked taking care of her things. She had lots of 'old' clothes that looked brand new and thinking about them getting dirty by taking care of her dragon was horrifying! No, no, she couldn't let that happen! She had to see the Weyr Tanner!

"You can get that dirty...?" She gasped, staring up at him in fear. Linara had never done any tasks that would get her really smelly or really dirty until she moved to the Weyr and even at that she was really really good at staying clean so she didn't have to mess up her good clothes. "I didn't know that! We must hurry!"

The Candidate ended her words with a scared squeak as she was afraid that every blow of wind would destroy her pretty dress.

"How could I escape that? All dragons..." Then she stopped realizing what he meant. "Oh, I hope so, I really do."

She remembered Uu'ian's bronze who liked to roll in the dirt. "Do you think my dragon will LIKE getting dirty? Oh, I dont' think I could stand it!"

His offer was so kind that she finally gave him a real, good, long looking over and her eyes went wide, finally realizing just who he was. It was the Weyrleader himself! Oh, why, why, why hadn't she realized that before? What a fool she was! Gawking at him, trying to flirt with him when he had so much more things for him to do. Then again...he was offering to take her to the Weyr Tanners...Could that possibly mean?

"I...I would really appreciate that, C'lyn, if you do really have the time to go right now," She said, lowering her head slightly and blushing.

[shadowreine]

C'lyn nodded. "Yes, definitely. I always wear clothes that are past their best when I have to bathe and oil Kilith." He studied her. "Your dragon probably won't. Most of them don't, and some of the female ones...and the bronzes...can be tremendously vain"

"And I do. I need to redo part of Kilith's fighting harness, and I need some new leather pieces for that."

This girl was obviously a little spoiled and very holdbred. Nothing a bit of honest work would not fix. "Hopefully, Renth's clutch will hatch soon." Did this girl hope for the queen? Probably. Most girls did, unless they were like his sister...

...who had Impressed *that* dragon. Well...

[guest]

Oh, this was so bad! So bad! She really didn't know that Weyrlings had to do so much hard work. She had always imagined that they would just, well, sort of take care of themselves! That over night they would become the big giant creatures she had always dreamed to ride. But this wasn't her imagination! This was reality and if she was going to be a queenrider, or even a fighting rider, then she would have to suck it up! Still...all her good clothes...Good thing the Headwoman wanted her to see the Tanner!

"That is a good idea! Some of the clothes my parents sent with me will shrink if you wash then wrong!" She exclaimed, thinking just how upset she would be if they were ruined oiling and bathing her future dragon. "I hope my dragon won't be like that, but I know that some bronzes can even think it's fun to get dirty. I met a bronze Weyrling the other day who did!"

She shuddered, feeling sorry for Uu'ian now more than she did when they were speaking. Poor guy. All his clothes must be oh, so dirty!

"Oh, I hope so too, C'lyn, sir! She laid such a large Clutch for us Candidates," She said excitedly. She didn't think it would be smart to mention that she was planning to sneak into the Hatching Cavern to take a look at them. "I can't wait to see who the queen chooses..."

She trailed off frowning and staring at her shoes. Should she tell him that she really really wanted to Impress the queen? Or should she say something more humble to make herself sound better? No...she should be honest. If she was going to make a good queenrider someday, she needed to learn to be honest.

"I...I hope that I manage to Impress whatever dragon is in the golden egg, but...but if I don't I will be happy because I will have still have Impressed...hopefully..."

[shadowreine]

C'lyn chuckled. "You aren't the first or the last Candidate to show up with nothing but good clothes. Don't worry, you'll get your chances to wear them."

He paused. "Don't worry about it too much. There are plenty of good riders who didn't Impress their first time on the Sands. And keep an open mind. We're not sure whether it's a gold in that egg or another ebony. Nor do we know...there's a chance of more mutations coming from that clutch." He considered for a moment, starting to head for the tanner's workrooms.

"Queens are a lot of work, and bear in mind that the price you pay for the status is being stuck with a broody dragon at intervals. Of course, there are also downsides to a green or, say, a sapphire or copper." He could not see *this* girl with a blue. "We don't really know what kind of personalities the coppers and sapphires go for...although both of the copper riders so far are quiet and compassionate young women. Greenriders tend to be the daredevil types."

He didn't know her well enough to hazard a guess. "If you Impress a queen, you'll spend a lot of time doing paperwork. A fighting dragon is a more physical life. Both have their compensations and their downsides." If she opened her mind, she had a greater chance of Impressing. If she went in there with her heart set on the queen or nothing...she would get the queen or nothing.

[guest]

That was a relief, but she really didn't know of what else she could say. She thought that the more and more she talked about not having 'old' clothes, then maybe he'd think that she was just some rich Holdbrat who had no idea about anything and had only been sent to the Weyr because she had some child fantasy of Impressing a gold and soaring through the skies with no one to tell her what to do. And in some parts of that, it was true about her, but she was trying to change that. She did not like people to think of her as a rich fat girl! She wanted to be respected and treated well because of how she acted, not where she came from.

It was a good thing that he moved and, she almost cringed, to speak about what she'd have to go through if she Impressed a queen dragon, if there even was a queen in this whole Clutch! She did not realize until she heard it from the Weyrleader himself that the job of a queenrider was so...difficult. She knew how to read and write and all that, but with his talking, she remembered that very important things in the Weyr were decided by her dragon's Flight. She could choose the next junior Weyrleader and that in itself was very scary. What if her dragon wasn't good at choosing?

Linara didn't realize for a moment that C'lyn had started walking, but quickly hurried up to catch up with him. She wrung her hands together and was feeling very nervous. Could she even do a good job as a queenrider? But would being a greenrider or copper or sapphire even be good for her? What if she made a lousy fighting rider, too?? She was starting to really really doubt herself now, but C'lyn ended his talk gently, saying that both had their ups and downs.

"How do you know if you're really good enough to be a queenrider? Or...how will I know that I'm just better suited to be a copperrider?" She asked, her eyes looking desprately up into his face. "How do I know that I'll even make a good dragonrider at all?"

[shadowreine]

OOC: Do we *have* junior weyrleaders here? Franny?

"If the queen picks you, you're good enough," C'lyn said simply. "We have to trust her judgment. And..."

He considered that. "Being a good dragonrider doesn't mean you have to be perfect. It means trusting your dragon. It means caring for her, yes." He assumed her, it was vastly more likely. "But when you Impress, your dragon will bring out every best quality in you. Not that there aren't petty dragonriders, or unpleasant ones, or rarely outright evil ones...some people's best qualities aren't so hot. But your dragon will complete you, make you more you than you were before. And she *will* be the right color. She may not be what you want or expect, but she'll be what's right."