Assumptions Never Work

Writers: Chelle, Leigh M-F.
Date Posted: 13th April 2015

Characters: A'kua, R'gelen
Description: The two meet for the first time.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 13 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Ninaine.

He'd been brought to the Weyr and it was so vastly different. His life had
changed immediately. He was given new knots, told to sew up a white
hatching robe, and figure it out-whatever that meant. The headwoman had
given him a cot and some things. Looking around, he remembered the first
day at the Hall-when he had left home the very first time not too long ago.
And once again he found himself wanting home. Maybe this had been a bad
decision. Maybe he wasn't really supposed to be here. Maybe the vintner
hall would take him back...

Walking forward, he opened the foot locker and shoved his things inside.
Then he heard his stomach rumble and considered whether or not he'd get
lost trying to find the dining cavern. **Good thing I don't have to find my
way to lessons till tomorrow morning.**

Aluka was hungrier than a wild wher, but he had to change his shirt first.
His right sleeve had been ripped off by another Candidate. It was an
accident; the poor guy behind him had turned his ankle under and gone down
hard, one hand slapping onto Aluka's shoulder and the other yanking on his
sleeve hard enough to destroy the seams. Even though the shirt was meant
for chores, and the sleeve could be stitched back on, the redhead was
beginning to think maybe he should just let people fall from now on.

He walked into the room he shared with other Candidates and jerked back in
surprise on actually seeing one. The boy seemed way too young to be there,
which probably explained the lost, almost helpless look on his face. Aluka
had more than likely had the same expression on his face when he finally
arrived at Dragonsfall and realized just how damn _big_ it was. On that
merit, and that of the new Candidate's youth, Aluka decided to go easy on
the kid. "Guess you're my new roommate," he said casually, heading to his
bed and kneeling next to it in order to fish out his sack of belongings.

His head whipped around and the young boy took in the much older candidate.
Aluka's saunter told him he had confidence. In Rohagelen's past, that had
meant danger. Aware that he could very easily be picked on again here like
he had when first coming to the Hall, he was cautious and weary. **Symion,
I wish you were here.** The older boy had been a lifeline for Rohagelen.
And now he had no one. "Guess so." Pulling off his tunic, he pulled on the
one he'd been given with his new candidate knots affixed. With that action,
he determined to forget about his old life and work on the new one.

Aluka also retrieved a tunic of his own and peeled off the damaged shirt,
putting it away and pulling on the undamaged article. "Ah, ya gotta be
kiddin' me," he muttered, noticing the hem was starting to come unraveled,
and there was a hole developing in the left shoulder. He sighed. He had
been at the Weyr so long, all his chore clothing was starting to feel it.
He could get them patched up, of course, but maybe he needed to get new
things and donate the stuff falling apart to the aunties and uncles to make
rag rugs.

His stomach growled, interrupting the thought.

"Where..did you come from?" Maybe..the guy wasn't Weyrbred. That would be
easier. Maybe Rohagelen could ask him about things. Looked like he had been
here for awhile anyway.

The older Candidate paused, wondering what had caused the question, then
concluded his accent had given him away. Maybe he should work on
eliminating it completely. He waved a hand dismissively. "Some small,
worthless, backwater hold you've never heard of," he said. "Have ya had
lunch yet?"

"A Hold?" That was good. He knew holds. "I was raised in a cothold till
they sent me to the vintner hall. Haven't been there long and now I'm here
I suppose." Considering this his chance to follow someone to the Dining
Cavern without getting lost and latching on to someone who seemed decent,
he shook his head. "No I haven't."

Wow. Not only was the kid young, he was in for major shocks. Hopefully he
would cope with them better than Ninaine. "C'mon, then. I'm so hungry I
could eat a tunnelsnake raw," the redhead said in a kind tone that most
would be shocked to hear.

His brow furrowed at the expression. **Hopefully he didn't really mean
that.** Following along behind the much larger and older candidate,
Rohagelen hoped this wouldn't turn out as bad as he thought it could. **Ma
is going to tan my hide.** "Soo...are lessons hard?" he asked as they
walked.

"Not if ya pay attention," Aluka said, "and ask questions if ya need
clarification. See that cleft in the wall there?" He gestured to it. "Turn
right just past that." He did so. "Honestly, the lessons are the least of
your worries. It's the atmosphere ya need to get used to, since it's so
different from a hold. But different is good. This place has better
opportunities for women, for one, and men can bake and cook and sew if they
wanna without gettin' grief for it."

"Why would men want to bake and cook and sew?" His lower lip might just
have fallen open when he heard that. Rohagelen stumbled a little, though,
but regained his balance. **Maybe Ma was right. Strange things do go on
here.**

Aluka looked over his shoulder. "Because they do a good job, and they have
fun doin' it," he said seriously. "Shards, my harper teacher is a woman,
and she's doin' a fardlin' better job than the man who started me off."

A female harper wasn't so hard to comprehend. After all, women could sing
and they were good teachers. Rohagelen had never seen one, mind... He had
also met male bakers before. After all, even in the bakercraft the women
couldn't get knots in the Holds and Halls. "So is the food good?" Since
that was one thing that occupied most of his time as a young man, he needed
to make sure.

The taller Candidate nodded. "Only the best for the Weyrs. We have good
cooks and good ingredients. See that fork? We go left now."

He was honestly sure he'd never remember this. At least there were signs
carved into the rock. That made sense. They had those in the Holds too. "My
name is Rohagelen. I was a junior apprentice vintner, but I guess not
anymore." It was odd losing his identity just that quick. All those lessons
and study sessions were for nothing. Unless he never Impressed. Then he'd
be behind though...

"I'm Aluka," the other male said, deciding to play along. "I was a runaway
before I wound up here by accident. Didn' really have a craft until I got
here. I figured bein' a Candidate was as good a choice as any."

"Oh. Hm. My Ma and Da don't know I'm here. Master let me come," he admitted
quietly. He was going to have to sit down and write a long letter. Best to
do it on a full stomach, though. **Will these blasted tunnels never end?**
"Why would you run away? I mean..it's hard to travel since there's
threadfall and all." He shivered, thinking about those possibilities. The
traders did it, sure, and the runners. It wasn't something he'd ever want
to do though. Of course it hadn't yet occurred to him that if he Impressed,
he'd have to be up close and personal with thread.

"Because if I'd stayed, I'd've lost my bloody mind," Aluka muttered. "Ma
died, so there was nothin' keepin' me there," he added, slightly louder. "I
hated it there anyway. We go straight up ahead there. Not much farther now.
So why didn' ya tell your folks about comin' here? Did ya think they'd keep
ya from goin' somehow?"

"Cause...we have a rider in the family and....they never really talk about
her. It's like...well she did some bad things. And so maybe they could
think I'd bring shame on all of us too. I mean I was supposed to be a
crafter like my Da." He didn't dare say that people at the Weyr did bad
things. Everyone knew that.

Aluka snorted and said bitterly, "And meanwhile, holders cheat on their
spouses and treat their treasures like trash, husbands beat their wives,
and girls get impregnated far too early when they're married off by their
parents even if they don' want children." Yes, the latter happened in Weyrs
as well, but at least Weyrgirls had the options of fostering and going
between. "Yet holders pretend their actions brings no shame, and they still
rely on Weyrs for protection. Honestly, I'd've loved it if I found out I
had riders in my family." He looked over his shoulder at Rohagelen.
"Whoever your rider relative is, she's a hero. And if ya Impress, you'll be
one too."

"My Da never cheated or beat on my MA!" Rohagelen stopped walking and stood
there with an incredulous look on his face. What Aluka was saying and
accusing his parents of didn't make any sense. And it was almost as if he
was belittling Rohagelen's entire upbringing. The young boy didn't know his
Aunt. Who was to say that his parents hadn't been right? After all, besides
this one thing they had never concealed anything from him. They had always
told him the truth. Aluka probably didn't know his Aunt anyway.

Aluka returned, "I'm just sayin' it's stupid, not talkin' about your
relative and thinkin' she might've done somethin' bad because she's a
rider. Holders have done worse, in my experience. Your ma's incredibly
lucky your da treated her well." He motioned ahead. "The dining cavern's
right up ahead. Ya can probably hear all the people in there talkin' now."
And smell all the food being prepared.

"I don't think they think she did something because she's a rider. I think
they think she did something bad because she did something bad. It woulda
been bad even if she wasn't a rider. Problem is because she's a rider,
everyone knows. Which means there's more shame on the family." He did smell
the food and it put his mind onto a different subject. Seeing the line, he
shuffled into it.

Aluka ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head, and sighed. If the kid
Impressed, he was going to be terrified of making any sort of mistake, no
matter how minor, in order to avoid "shame". Maybe he wasn't going to adapt
any better than Ninaine. For Rohagelen's sake, the redhead hoped that
wouldn't the case. Well, at least the new Candidate wasn't female. That
would really turn up the pressure to "behave". He got into the serving line
as well and waited.

Tunnelsnake was not on the menu.

Last updated on the April 19th 2015

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Assumptions Never Work