Waiting to be a spy

[Franny]

(OOC: I am on a brain blank for the rest of the high council meeting so I decided to start a mini series on the candidates left since you won't get to know them well otherwise)

Jaline had never really wanted to be a spy. Actually, she had planed on being some miner's wife, having children, and dieing, but this had changed the day the meddlesome green rider had come to visit the mine site. He came when she was 12 to check on the mine site that her family worked at.

She had always been a good and dutiful daughter, fulfilling every expectation that they had of her, and wanting exactly what they had wanted her to want. She wasn't rebellious, she didn't care to try new things, and she certainly did not want to ever go elsewhere on Pern.

But, what she had expected changed the day the green rider was making "rounds" to check on places that were hardly checked on. The traders came by every now adn tehn to pick up coal, but other than that the small mining town saw no one and was dependant upon the small farms run by the women in the harsh rocky soild and the traders.

Jaline had always expected things to continue like this, but then the green and her silly good for nothing rider came, demanded food, and then told her she was to be a candidate for a dragon! Now what would she want with that? Dragons weren't anything great and they were a dieing breed, an unused antique, waiting for the next rock to come flying at Pern every 10 to 100 hundred years. Dragons were a usless burden upon Pern's way of life and took up extra food. The taxed Pern's resources and yet their riders did things like normal pernese people and no more, once again taxing Pern.

She did not care for a dragon and so she had told the green rider, in her high handed 12 year old way, but the rider had laughed. He had smiled patronizingly at her and said, "My dear, this is an honor to be chosen to be a candidate. My Dath here tells me that you would make a good dragon rider. Come now, there is nothing here for you."

She had stated quite clearly at that point that this was her life, but the dragon rider had laughed and replied with a wild gesture of his arms, "The skies could be your place in life young mistress. If you come with me, I will train you up to be a dragonrider, and then I will take you to wherever the next hatching is to be and you shall fly upon dragon wings."

She had grudgingly excepted, under the extraxted promise from the rider that if she didn't like life as a candidate, he would immidiatly take her back to the mine town.

But, that never came to be, because she had loved her ride upon Dath, free and wild under the skies; she had even liked the shocking cold and nothingness of between.

When they got to the riders home he introduced himself as F'mir of green Dath, and he introduced his other candidate, Vorandal.

(OOC:Its getting let, I will post more tomorrow)

[Franny]

Vorandal was quiet and shy, Jaline soon learned. Vorandal was 13, and that was all she knew for about a year. He would quietly do the lessons bet he never volunteered a word to any of the lessons so Jaline and F'mar were left to do all the talking. This went on durring the year of cleaning harnesses, farming enough to feed all three people, and learning to clean Dath. F'mar also would sometimes save the skin of herbeasts killed by Dath for food and he would teach them how to tan the hides that he traded for clothing and blankets and other things he could not get for himself and his candidates that was needed.

F'mar would leave them by themsleves whenever he thought Dath would fly soon. Durring that time she and Vorandal would so their chores, in silence. She was glad that F'mar never left for extremely long time periods because she might have gone mad with the silence of Vorandal.

This was so until the day Vorandal turned 14 and F'mar gave him a flit that hatched to be a green for a birthday present. She could still remeber the look of pure joy and astonishment on Vorandal's face when Saya hatched. She could remember the first words that she had ever heard him say, "I will call her Saya," in a nice sounding tenor voice. That had been that mark of the turning point. Saya brought life to him.

Jaline could also remember the first day that he talked to her, about 7-10 days after his birthday. He had talked to Saya since the birthday, but then one day he had randomly turned to her and asked, "Did you choose to be a candidate with F'mar?"

Jaline was slightly shocked that he had spoken to her and she also didn't really know how to answer that. The day befor she had gotten to ride upon Dath again and she had slowly changed her mind and decided that yes, she did want a dragon, even if she hadn't when she had left home, almost a year ago. She answered him simpily and truthfully because she knew no other way to answer, "I did not want to be a canidate when F'mar came and took me away, but I think I do now that I have lived with a dragon."

Vorandal had simply nodded and walked off. The next day though, Jaline asked him the same question and he replied quietly without emotion, "I had no choice, and F'mar took me in. F'mar went to find another candiate person so he could call his home a Community Weyr Hold so that I could be a candidate. The other candidate was you." I nodded and asked no more, but it gave me something to think about at the time. I asked myself why he would have no choice, what had happened to him that he had no choice.?

(OOC: nice place to stop for today )

[Franny]

Vorandal was quiet for a while after that, and it was something Jaline was used to. Then, he randomly asked her another question, "What was your life like before here?"

She spoke to him about being a miner's daughter and her wants in life before F'mar had picked her up. Then she turned the question back on Vorandal. Vorandal got a vague look on his face and Jaline was sure that he wouldn't answer. When he did speak, she was surprised.

"I was a green rider's son. My mother didn't like to live around others wo we were secluded. We didn't often talk, and that only for the sake of words that were needed. F'mar would come from time to time to check on me, but otherwise we didn't have many visitors. Mother one day disapeared and I never saw her again. F'mar came to me crying and said to me, 'Boy, you are coming with me. Your mother is gone and there is no where else for you. We'll make my home into a Community weyr hold so I can train you as a candidate. It's what your mother would have wanted'" Vorandal finished his story and walked off to be alone in thought.

Instead of leaving him alone, Jaline followed. She had to jog a little bit to catch up with his quick strides. When she caught up she noticed tears on his eyes. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew she wouldn't speak. Vorandal was more in tune with emotions and movement than with speaking.

Jaline darred to gently hug him. Vorandal seemed shocked at first and then he relaxed and hugged her back.

That was the start of her friendship with Vorandal. This friendship grew for a year, and then one day F'mar came to them with a grim look on his face and he said to them, "Some fool of a gold rider went and started a settlement on the western continent. The High Council doesn't know what to do. They have called for spies to send over as candidates. You are bothe well raised in the laws and I sent to them that I had two candidates. They want both of you to train until they send you. You won't know the others they send so as to protect the network."